“O, wad some Power the giftie gie usTo see oursels as others see us!” Those may be two of Robert Burns’ most oft-quoted lines, relecting that while Scotland has never been shy at looking in on itself, we have lacked the ability or awareness to view our nation from the perspective of outsiders. Document Scotland […]
As Long as I Keep Busy, by photographer Neil Goodwin, is a social documentary about the lives of people living alone in the UK. Half of the project participants live in Scotland. Living alone is a world-wide social phenomenon. In the UK, over eight million people live alone, almost 12 percent of the population, […]
Like most small towns in Scotland, Montrose in an unassuming place. A walk down the main thoroughfare reveals the usual selection of modern shops and stores, common to almost every community in the country. One type of business which seldom, if at all, graces our high streets these days is the photographic studio. But travel […]
I’m an island lover, certainly. Having visited and photographed many of Scotland’s islands, I had never been to Colonsay. It’s a place I’ve heard so much about from friends and colleagues. So it was a wonderful opportunity to visit for a Document Scotland project this May. My approach is always to gravitate towards people, after […]
Colonsay is a place I know well, so I was delighted when asked to take part in Show Us Colonsay… I first went to Colonsay in 1993. At that time the ferry only went three times a week and the debate was whether to do Friday to Sunday (2 nights) or Sunday to Wednesday (3 […]
A week anywhere taking photographs is always to be savoured, but a week on a Scottish island in the best of weather always sets a high bar. And so it was in the week of our Show Us Colonsay project. I knew little about Colonsay before I went, it wasn’t one of the islands I’d […]
In May 2022, Document Scotland visited the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay where we staged a week-long series of events under the title Show Us Colonsay. These included a community participatory project open to all islanders to take part in, a series of collaborative portraits of people on Colonsay made by the Document Scotland photographers […]
Document Scotland launches Show Us Colonsay photography project – a community-focused photography event designed to engage, educate and excite. What: Show Us Colonsay Where: Colonsay and Oransay, Inner Hebrides When: 2-7 May, 2022 Show Us Colonsay is a community-focused photography event devised and delivered by Document Scotland in partnership with the Colonsay and Oransay Heritage […]
I first met Rob when we both worked on the group project Sixteen, a photographic touring exhibition involving sixteen international photographers making portraits and exploring the dreams, hopes and fears of sixteen-year olds across the UK. The idea came about thanks to Craig Easton and I loved the collaborative aspect of this project, working alongside […]
An invitation to online talk at the Martin Parr Foundation caught my eye a couple of months ago. The title of the work rang some bells, and something about the combination of quiet portraits, captivating botanical still lives and landscapes made me look twice. Linn Gardens on the west coast of Scotland is a place […]
You may have noticed in the last week or two that Rangers Football Club in Glasgow have won the Scottish Premiership, denying their arch rivals Celtic FC, on the other side of the city, the chance to win ten titles in a row. Around the city posters have gone up, and graffiti appearing, #RFC55, the […]
From the outside, the abbey at Nunraw looks unremarkable. A large, grey utilitarian building, perched on a hillside in a clearing in some pine trees deep in the Lammermuir hills. Built in 1969, its modernity gave few clues to the ancient customs, practices and rituals which took place daily behind closed doors. Sancta Maria Abbey […]