2013

A sun and a moon. A blink of an eye again.

In twelve months it is inconceivable where our feet fall. Mine have covered some ground. My shoes, the aged reliquarys of adventure, are always at the frontier of my expeditions. They are retired with grace and ceremony as the months wear them away. Parting with them, in their gait warped state, always brings a tugging reluctance. Twins of stability, accessory to my safe passage. Their silent companionship remains through the rain and frost of another year. They are seldom acknowledged for their service to how I see the world. But whatever I see through my camera, I wait for, on foot and on the street. 

Here at the end of a year when so many things have happened, the compulsion to remember the major events often obscures the beautiful phenomenon of three hundred days passing unmarked. On my travels, I have picked up milestones in pictures. An esoteric measurement of the seasons that I search out or capture in passing. I have no way of predicting what the next year has in store, what I do know is that I will keep searching in the street for reminders of life playing out, and that I will probably need new shoes.

Happy new year.

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Creative Edinbirthday!

With festivity and jubilation coming from every pore at the moment, I couldn't think of a better post to talk about good old fashioned celebration. Last month long standing client, awesome group of individuals and good friends Creative Edinburgh celebrated their 2nd birthday. Apart from the successful championing and encouraging of a tidalwave of local and creative endeavors, the last two years saw both Janine and Lynsey co-direct the organisation together. The birthday doubled as a farewell for Lynsey as she moves on to new pastures in London.

Working as an independent creative, I am always really interested in collaborations. A big believer in 1+1=3, partners, companions, accomplices, double acts and duos are always inspiring, especially when they work really well. No exception to this synergy are J&L who at once compliment each other perfectly yet are mirror opposites. Before the Birthday showdown and awards, I asked to take their portrait as a memento of a cherished time in their careers. The end of a year is always an odd old thing. It is almost a deadline, a fulcrum of change in the closing days of the year. There are departures and arrivals all around at the moment, as they will continue. So it is important for me to salute, while everyone is too hard at work to notice, a brilliant working partnership.


I also produced this whistlestop video of the rest of the night that I love. If chaos and cake are your thing, check it out below!


Creative Edinburgh Awards & 2nd Birthday Party from Creative Edinburgh on Vimeo.

BACK FROM THE LAB

Another blast from the past. Every time I collect new film I am stopped in my tracks. Every time a reminder of what this whole thing is about. Photography for me is still learning, still my main mode of discovery.

Over the last few months I have made lamentable starts at writing posts to apologise for the blog silence and account for the dip in updates. Really tragic writing actually. Some great apologia,and in the end I don't even have room for photos. In reality, it turns out, I've not had the time or the enthusiasm to write about what I work hard and enthusiastically at all week. This ol' blog has always been an archivist and diary to my heady, chaotic activity. But by the time I sit down to sift through my thoughts on a project, I have already moved on to the next two. Of the things I should always be writing about, is photography's great brotherly companionship showing us how to keep exploring. Not specific to any camera, or any format, the very act is still universally thrilling.

So hey! I am once again drawn back to earth. Not the commissions or work that I finished in the last two weeks, but small iridescent rectangles of emulsion that I shoot at important points on my search for new ideas. They document and promise nothing but humble, forgettable microseconds in my own travels. There are no stories, nothing to sell.What is here in these rolls, are the beginnings of a documenting of Glasgow's Southside. Something, I hope in time, I will talk a lot more about. Here is a place I am drawn to like gravity. Its latent, hidden colour and personality are heralding an adventure. For now, film still has a place at my side.