Old school gets new lease of life. Cliasmol school – once known as the smallest in Scotland – closed its gates for the final time in June 2014. With only four pupils, the decision was taken taken to close the school as the roll was due to fall to just two the following term. In 2015 it was put up for sale. Marion and Colin McNeill purchased the old school. Marion’s family home is nearby. They approached Porteous Architecture, the […]
Outer Hebrides’ K6 telephone boxes, in all their magical and modified glory. One of my first ever night photography subjects was the classic red telephone box above. It stands beside a former Post Office, overlooking Loch Finsbay on the east coast of the Isle of Harris. I later discovered many of the local residents referred to it as the ‘magic phone box’. In the mid 1990s, the phone next to Finsbay Post Office developed a fault. It didn’t prevent you […]
Stevie has worked for the mobile library service for twelve years. I caught up with him on one of his regular trips to Harris. The Western Isles Mobile Library Service supplies books to people who are unable to use a branch library because of distance, age or disability. There are normally three vehicles on the road, visiting communities in Lewis, Harris and the Uists. However, one of the library vans was recently retired, having reached the end of its serviceable […]
Angus Williams (left) has been running his drystone dyking business in Harris and Lewis for the last 12 years. The other members of Williams Stone Craft include his brother Owen (right) who runs Harris operations and Angus’s right hand man in Lewis, Murdo Sam MacLeod (centre). I took this photo at Saint Clement’s church in Rodel (Isle of Harris), where the boys are rebuilding and repairing sections of the boundary wall for Historic Scotland. Stone craftsmanship is in the blood […]
NOBODY’S HOME IN GLASGOW 52 hours in Glasgow: three interviews (two on the radio, one for TV), an exhibition opening and doing donuts in the sky above Benbecula. Wednesday July 20th 6.00am: set off to Stornoway airport to catch the 8.25am direct flight to Glasgow. The plan was to arrive in Glasgow at 9.25am, head straight to The Lighthouse to oversee and help hang all the prints for the official opening of Nobody’s Home the following day. I get to […]
MOONLIGHTING: BUY THE BOOK Following recent TV appearances, I’ve been asked by a number of people if there’s a photo book of my work. Officially, the answer has been ‘no’. However, I did put together a collection of long exposure night photographs in 2011. The book contains 40 of my favourite night photos taken over a two year period (2009 to 2011). I used Blurb, a self-publishing company, to produce a 25cm x 20cm full colour photo book, primarily to […]
SCOTTISH FIELD, JAN 2016… BEHIND THE SCENES A behind the scenes look at the Scottish Field article, including some of Angus Blackburn’s photos that didn’t appear in the mag. It’s in the shops now. See the published article here. Must admit I was surprised when I got a call from Kirsty Smyth of Scottish Field a few months ago. She was looking to do a “lifestyle/culture” feature for the mag. I was aware of Scottish Field but I’d never actually […]
AS SEEN ON TV… The knock-on effect of the Leaving Home exhibition continues… in recent months I’ve appeared on three BBC TV programmes, revisiting some of the houses I’ve been photographing over the past five years. 1. Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands The first to be broadcast was Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands. I collect hitch-hiking presenter Paul Murton in a 1967 Volkswagen; rented for the day from Harris Classic Campers. Following a brief tour of the island, […]
WAR MEMORIALS, PART 1: LEWIS & HARRIS Earlier this year I was commissioned by the Gaelic Arts Agency (Pròiseact nan Ealan) to photograph a series of War Memorials throughout the Western Isles as part of a project commemorating the 100th anniversary of World War 1. The resulting images are being incorporated into large display panels as part of a touring exhibition which will visit a number of venues in the Western Isles and further afield during the remainder of 2014 […]