Last autumn, I was artist-in-residence at the Wigtown Book Festival, where I took 173 portraits of visitors, residents and authors over 10 days.
These photos were then pinned to walls of “The Hut” – the studio space I’d been given to use for the duration – and each person’s name, along with the title of ‘a well-loved book,’ was scribbled underneath.
I’ve now created a book of the event, which includes all the portraits and a journal of my experiences as I progressed from naïve enthusiasm, through loss of confidence and on to final success.
Like my previous books, Facing The Weekend, and Staring Back, it’s been created via blurb.com – an online, print-on-demand publisher. You order the book and they print it and post it to you. Unfortunately, it’s not very cheap, but then copies are being printed off individually rather than en mass.
However, you can download it for your iPad or iPhone for a mere £1.49 (approx €2 or $2.50) because there are no printing or shipping costs.
If you would like to see and handle a printed copy, then I will have one with me this weekend when I am back at “The Hut” in Wigtown for the Spring Fling Open Studio Event (studio 6 in the brochure – visit the Spring Fling website to download the brochure app), from Saturday 2nd to Tuesday 5th June
If you can’t get over to visit, then take a look at the widget below to give you a taste.
If for any reason, the widget below isn't working, then click on this link for more details
www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3244464
Friday, 1 June 2012
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Photography Fun
During my stint as Artist in Residence for the Wigtown Book Festival, I found myself reflecting on the fact it often feels I’m part photographer, part psychotherapist.
When upward of 90% of people use the opening line, “I hate having my photo taken…” the majority of my time is spent not using the camera, but reassuring, explaining and trying to build a sense of connection and trust with the person in front of me.
So when I encounter a rare individual who is perfectly comfortable in front of the lens right from the start, it’s a pure delight – especially when they are then up for playing.
One such person I discovered during the festival was Peggy.
When I photographed her for the wall of The Hut I was immediately struck by her appearance. With short dark hair, and large rimmed glasses she had an almost iconic look, and when I converted the image to black and white, I was reminded of a kind of 1950s Beatnik style.
Of course one of the things about having such a striking outward style, is people will fix on it as the key identifying trait. So if Peggy was to remove her glasses and change her hairstyle, the chances are she could walk right past most people who know her and they wouldn’t even realise it was her.
With my love of faces, I found myself wanting to photograph her without her glasses. She was up for the idea, but we didn’t then get the chance until the very last evening of the Festival. By then it was dark and the only available light was on the stairs, and that wasn’t particularly great. However, black and white gives more options under these circumstances, so I felt it was still worth going for.
What’s great about Peggy from my point of view is she instantly understood photography is all about storytelling. So no need to be shy in front of the camera – rather it was a chance to play. She fished out some bright red lipstick and between us we came up with the idea of having it smeared, but with an unapologetic, even aggressive expression.
Within a few short minutes we’d created another almost iconic image.
Such fun!
Peggy is also the Programme Director of the West Port Book Festival in Edinburgh, which this year is happening from the 13th to 16th of October.
Visit www.westportbookfestival.org for more information, and if you go along and bump into Peggy, do say hello to her from me.
When upward of 90% of people use the opening line, “I hate having my photo taken…” the majority of my time is spent not using the camera, but reassuring, explaining and trying to build a sense of connection and trust with the person in front of me.
So when I encounter a rare individual who is perfectly comfortable in front of the lens right from the start, it’s a pure delight – especially when they are then up for playing.
One such person I discovered during the festival was Peggy.
When I photographed her for the wall of The Hut I was immediately struck by her appearance. With short dark hair, and large rimmed glasses she had an almost iconic look, and when I converted the image to black and white, I was reminded of a kind of 1950s Beatnik style.
Of course one of the things about having such a striking outward style, is people will fix on it as the key identifying trait. So if Peggy was to remove her glasses and change her hairstyle, the chances are she could walk right past most people who know her and they wouldn’t even realise it was her.
With my love of faces, I found myself wanting to photograph her without her glasses. She was up for the idea, but we didn’t then get the chance until the very last evening of the Festival. By then it was dark and the only available light was on the stairs, and that wasn’t particularly great. However, black and white gives more options under these circumstances, so I felt it was still worth going for.
What’s great about Peggy from my point of view is she instantly understood photography is all about storytelling. So no need to be shy in front of the camera – rather it was a chance to play. She fished out some bright red lipstick and between us we came up with the idea of having it smeared, but with an unapologetic, even aggressive expression.
Within a few short minutes we’d created another almost iconic image.
Such fun!
Peggy is also the Programme Director of the West Port Book Festival in Edinburgh, which this year is happening from the 13th to 16th of October.
Visit www.westportbookfestival.org for more information, and if you go along and bump into Peggy, do say hello to her from me.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
It's over... or maybe it's just begun...
As I stapled the last of the photos to the walls of The Hut at 1 o’clock in the morning, a few hours after the Wigtown Book Festival had officially closed, I realised no one was going to see all the images on the walls for another 8 months.
Normally you finish putting up an exhibition, and then people view it, but because this was an ongoing installation, visitors only saw it in progress.
The room I was given as a studio space in The Hut, while I was Artist-in-Residence, will now return to use as a place to catalogue the books destined for the shelves of ReadingLasses café and bookshop, until the first weekend in June 2012. It will then be opened up again to the public for the extended bank holiday weekend as part of the Spring Fling Open Studio Event.
It’s difficult to believe it was only 10 days. Thinking back to at time before the festival, it feels more like a couple of months have passed rather than less than 2 weeks.
There have been disappointments and delights, new friends made, opinions revised, lessons learned, skills enhanced, and seeds for potential futures have been sown.
I started off with naïve enthusiasm, fell into despair, adjusted my expectations and grew in confidence.
There’s a saying I love, which goes, “experience is something you gain immediately after you needed it the most”, and the experience of being artist-in-residence has felt a lot like that. At the beginning I didn’t really know what to expect or what was expected of me. I made my best guesses, but it’s only when things go wrong, and you have to revise your ideas and expectations that you really learn.
As the Festival drew to a close, I knew how I should have handled it from the start. I could see clearly when I should have acted differently, when I should have been bolder, and when I should have been more subtle.
So now it’s about finding a way to allow all the experiences and lessons to settle in and let them become part of the fabric of who I am and who I will become.
And trying to catch up on some sleep…
To view the full set of 174 portraits taken over the 10 days of the Wigtown Book Festival, visit my Facebook or Flickr albums:
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.292506957430682.93692.114749591873087&type=1
Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimayres/sets/72157627752630956/
Normally you finish putting up an exhibition, and then people view it, but because this was an ongoing installation, visitors only saw it in progress.
The room I was given as a studio space in The Hut, while I was Artist-in-Residence, will now return to use as a place to catalogue the books destined for the shelves of ReadingLasses café and bookshop, until the first weekend in June 2012. It will then be opened up again to the public for the extended bank holiday weekend as part of the Spring Fling Open Studio Event.
It’s difficult to believe it was only 10 days. Thinking back to at time before the festival, it feels more like a couple of months have passed rather than less than 2 weeks.
There have been disappointments and delights, new friends made, opinions revised, lessons learned, skills enhanced, and seeds for potential futures have been sown.
I started off with naïve enthusiasm, fell into despair, adjusted my expectations and grew in confidence.
There’s a saying I love, which goes, “experience is something you gain immediately after you needed it the most”, and the experience of being artist-in-residence has felt a lot like that. At the beginning I didn’t really know what to expect or what was expected of me. I made my best guesses, but it’s only when things go wrong, and you have to revise your ideas and expectations that you really learn.
As the Festival drew to a close, I knew how I should have handled it from the start. I could see clearly when I should have acted differently, when I should have been bolder, and when I should have been more subtle.
So now it’s about finding a way to allow all the experiences and lessons to settle in and let them become part of the fabric of who I am and who I will become.
And trying to catch up on some sleep…
To view the full set of 174 portraits taken over the 10 days of the Wigtown Book Festival, visit my Facebook or Flickr albums:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.292506957430682.93692.114749591873087&type=1
Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimayres/sets/72157627752630956/
Monday, 3 October 2011
Finding Time
I head home today.
Last night I was up until 2.30am editing and printing the last of the photos. Sunday had turned out to be a particularly hectic day and I took more photos than on any other day across the Festival - meaning more to edit and print.
There are still plenty of things to write about that have happened over the past 10 days, but it's going to take a wee while to find the time and space to write them up. But I will, so do keep checking in.
In the meantime, the last of the Festival Portraits have now been uploaded to Facebook and Flickr, so to view the full set - 176 photos of 184 people - do follow these links.
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.292506957430682.93692.114749591873087&type=1
Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimayres/sets/72157627752630956/
Having just said that, I'm also going to have to find the time to work out why I counted 176 photos on the wall of The Hut, but there only appear to be 175 images in the photo albums...
Last night I was up until 2.30am editing and printing the last of the photos. Sunday had turned out to be a particularly hectic day and I took more photos than on any other day across the Festival - meaning more to edit and print.
There are still plenty of things to write about that have happened over the past 10 days, but it's going to take a wee while to find the time and space to write them up. But I will, so do keep checking in.
In the meantime, the last of the Festival Portraits have now been uploaded to Facebook and Flickr, so to view the full set - 176 photos of 184 people - do follow these links.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.292506957430682.93692.114749591873087&type=1
Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimayres/sets/72157627752630956/
Having just said that, I'm also going to have to find the time to work out why I counted 176 photos on the wall of The Hut, but there only appear to be 175 images in the photo albums...
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Chasing Elaine C. Smith
Elaine C. Smith is a Scottish actress, comedian and author. I first saw her in a comedy sketch show back in the 80s called Naked Video, but she probably became best known for her role as Mary Nesbitt, playing the wife in the Scottish comedy series, Rab C. Nesbitt. But she’s also toured in the stage show of Calendar Girls, and has now released a book called “Nothing Like a Dame”.
Whenever I’ve seen her interviewed, she’s always come across as a strong, intelligent and very funny person, but down to earth and without pretension. So when I saw she was to be appearing at the Wigtown Book Festival, she jumped to the top of my wish-list for photographing for the walls of The Hut.
I knew her event was at 6pm on Thursday, and I was told by Festival staff she’d probably be taken to the Writer’s Retreat upon arrival, so from 3pm, I asked a couple of people to text me if she arrived.
At 4.30pm, I just took my laptop up to the Writer’s Retreat to edit photos and make sure I didn’t miss her.
By 5.30pm I realised even if she arrived now, she wouldn’t have time for a photograph.
By 5.50pm, a lot of people were getting worried about why there was still no sign of her.
Fortunately for the Festival, she arrived a few minutes later and the event was only 5 minutes late in starting. She blamed several slow tractors on the road on the journey down.
The talk was funny, entertaining and thoughtful, but then she was doing book signings. And then she would be taking part in the Wigtown Book Festival Auction at 8pm, and by this time it was far too dark to photograph her anyway.
My only option was to chat to her between the book-signing and the auction, which meant walking with her between venues, pitching the project and trying to get her to agree to be involved the following day before she left.
She was involved in a BBC Radio Scotland Debate event that would be finished at 1pm on Friday, and she assured me I could take her photo then.
Given the fobbing off I’d received from Martin Bell at the beginning of the Festival, I was taking no chances, so at 12.50pm I was sitting on the steps outside the venue and as soon as the doors opened to let people out, I squeezed in and made my way up to the stage.
I was rather relieved she still seemed up for it, and once we found her husband, Bob, the 3 of us headed over to The Hut.
And she was great.
Sometimes you meet people who have a public persona and as soon as they are out of the spotlight they are very different people. But I have to say Elaine appears to be pretty much the same in person in the flesh. She was friendly, engaging, seemed interested in the project and when it came to taking the photo gave me a fantastic intense glare down the lens. Bob was wonderful too, and I got his face for the wall as well.
They even decided they’d like a copy of the photos, so I swapped them for a signed copy of Elaine’s book.
Elaine
Bob
As usual, to view the latest images and the entire collection so far, visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collections.
Whenever I’ve seen her interviewed, she’s always come across as a strong, intelligent and very funny person, but down to earth and without pretension. So when I saw she was to be appearing at the Wigtown Book Festival, she jumped to the top of my wish-list for photographing for the walls of The Hut.
I knew her event was at 6pm on Thursday, and I was told by Festival staff she’d probably be taken to the Writer’s Retreat upon arrival, so from 3pm, I asked a couple of people to text me if she arrived.
At 4.30pm, I just took my laptop up to the Writer’s Retreat to edit photos and make sure I didn’t miss her.
By 5.30pm I realised even if she arrived now, she wouldn’t have time for a photograph.
By 5.50pm, a lot of people were getting worried about why there was still no sign of her.
Fortunately for the Festival, she arrived a few minutes later and the event was only 5 minutes late in starting. She blamed several slow tractors on the road on the journey down.
The talk was funny, entertaining and thoughtful, but then she was doing book signings. And then she would be taking part in the Wigtown Book Festival Auction at 8pm, and by this time it was far too dark to photograph her anyway.
My only option was to chat to her between the book-signing and the auction, which meant walking with her between venues, pitching the project and trying to get her to agree to be involved the following day before she left.
She was involved in a BBC Radio Scotland Debate event that would be finished at 1pm on Friday, and she assured me I could take her photo then.
Given the fobbing off I’d received from Martin Bell at the beginning of the Festival, I was taking no chances, so at 12.50pm I was sitting on the steps outside the venue and as soon as the doors opened to let people out, I squeezed in and made my way up to the stage.
I was rather relieved she still seemed up for it, and once we found her husband, Bob, the 3 of us headed over to The Hut.
And she was great.
Sometimes you meet people who have a public persona and as soon as they are out of the spotlight they are very different people. But I have to say Elaine appears to be pretty much the same in person in the flesh. She was friendly, engaging, seemed interested in the project and when it came to taking the photo gave me a fantastic intense glare down the lens. Bob was wonderful too, and I got his face for the wall as well.
They even decided they’d like a copy of the photos, so I swapped them for a signed copy of Elaine’s book.
Elaine
Bob
As usual, to view the latest images and the entire collection so far, visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collections.
Watching Paint Dry
Despite the fact I clearly state on my leaflet that I have The Hut open between 10.30am and 12.30pm each day, on Thursday I had to shut up shop to head over to William Neal’s talk about his new book, Watching Paint Dry.
William has been a professional artist for many years. Back in the 70s he designed album covers for Emerson Lake and Palmer, in the 90s he was painting Galloway landscapes, and over the past few years he has moved into abstract works. This new book is a history of his life and work and includes many wonderful images including a special limited edition print to go specifically with this book.
And the cover photo is one of mine.
I did a photo shoot with William a couple of years ago, and he had the idea of taking a photo of him sitting at the easel, like a traditional artist painting a landscape, only with one of his abstract works under his brush. We then worked on it together using selective colour editing and putting in a moon, which is a feature of many of his landscape paintings. Basically, he came at it with the eye of someone who has designed album covers.
The photo ended up as the opening image on his website, and now the cover of his book.
So there was no way I was going to miss that one. Even though it meant having to turn away a couple of potential faces who wanted to see my studio because I was running late.
Rather nicely, William introduced me to the crowd there to hear him speak, which gave me the opportunity to pitch for more faces for the project, and several people came over to The Hut afterwards to stare down the lens of my camera, including William himself
Next up, Chasing Elaine C. Smith – when I can find a moment to write about it.
In the meantime, do check the Facebook or Flickr photo collections for the latest images.
Although as I write this, Flickr has decided to not upload any images from me this morning, so check the Facebook link first. I’ll try again with Flickr this evening.
William has been a professional artist for many years. Back in the 70s he designed album covers for Emerson Lake and Palmer, in the 90s he was painting Galloway landscapes, and over the past few years he has moved into abstract works. This new book is a history of his life and work and includes many wonderful images including a special limited edition print to go specifically with this book.
And the cover photo is one of mine.
I did a photo shoot with William a couple of years ago, and he had the idea of taking a photo of him sitting at the easel, like a traditional artist painting a landscape, only with one of his abstract works under his brush. We then worked on it together using selective colour editing and putting in a moon, which is a feature of many of his landscape paintings. Basically, he came at it with the eye of someone who has designed album covers.
The photo ended up as the opening image on his website, and now the cover of his book.
So there was no way I was going to miss that one. Even though it meant having to turn away a couple of potential faces who wanted to see my studio because I was running late.
Rather nicely, William introduced me to the crowd there to hear him speak, which gave me the opportunity to pitch for more faces for the project, and several people came over to The Hut afterwards to stare down the lens of my camera, including William himself
Next up, Chasing Elaine C. Smith – when I can find a moment to write about it.
In the meantime, do check the Facebook or Flickr photo collections for the latest images.
Although as I write this, Flickr has decided to not upload any images from me this morning, so check the Facebook link first. I’ll try again with Flickr this evening.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
How to stick photos to a wall
I was in a considerably better frame of mind on Wednesday (the fact it was a beautifully sunny day certainly helped), which is more than could be said for Adrian, the Festival Director.
I didn’t find out the details, but when he arrived at The Hut this morning, he’d clearly had a run in with someone not long before. However, I give him full credit for being up for the idea of allowing that grievance to barrel straight down the lens of the camera.
To avoid the fixed-grin camera-face most people have as soon as the camera appears, I’ve been asking people to stare intensely into the lens, as it nearly always makes for a much more interesting photo. Some really struggle, but most get there in the end. And every now and then you catch someone who has all the emotion right at their fingertips.
Festival Director, Adrian
I’m now over halfway through the Festival and what has become clear is I miscalculated how many photos I thought I would be able to get. Partly I underestimated the amount of wall space available in The Hut, and partly I overestimated how much time it would take to chat to people, warm them up, get them on board, get them to fill out a form, take the photos, edit the photos, print the photos, get the photos stuck to the wall of The Hut, convert the photos to web-sized images with my watermark on them, and finally upload them to Facebook and Flickr.
The actual amount of time I spend lining up the camera and going ‘click’ 3 or 4 times is only about 15 seconds. Everything else probably averages out at about 20 to 25 minutes per person.
Back during Spring Fling, at my peak I managed about 50 portraits in a day. However, everyone was coming to me (I wasn’t having to go out and recruit), and I had an assistant to explain to visitors what was going on, convert them to the cause, fill in the paperwork and stick the photos to the walls.
Now I’m managing about 15 per day. However, accumulatively this now means I have about 90 photos on the walls and it’s starting to look good.
Another problem I was faced with was how to stick the photos to the walls.
I began with the idea of drawing pins (thumbtacks), but the board density is too high – it took so much pressure to push one in, by the time I’d stuck one image to the wall, my thumbs were sore.
From then on I started using blu-tack. The problem here is I know from experience it has a wall-life of about a week or so, and then the photos will start peeling off.
A few days ago I tried using panel pins with a hammer, but the boards wobbled so much, I feared they would break before I could successfully hammer them in. Someone mentioned using a photo-mount spray, but then someone else said that didn’t have a particularly long wall life either.
However, writer-in-residence, Robert Twigger, immediately suggested a staple gun as soon as I told him of my difficulties. Perfect. Why didn’t I think of that before?
So last night, David and Jennifer – a couple of the Interns at the Festival – helped take down all the blu-tacked photos and I stapled them all back on the wall.
This also gave me the excuse to spread them out a little more, as I’d been over optimistic when I began and started overlapping them when putting them up. This would have resulted in barely covering one wall, which would have seriously dented the impact of the exhibition.
My favourite hang-out during the Festival when I’m not in The Hut, is The Writer’s Retreat - which is a sort of Green Room for visiting authors. As well as being comfy, it’s quite a good place to recruit faces for the project. Not only can I talk them into it, I can use the natural light from the large Georgian windows to take their portraits. The one of Rab Wilson in the last post being a good example.
Writer’s Retreat (devoid of writers at that precise moment…)
Don't forget, to see the latest portraits, visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collections.
I didn’t find out the details, but when he arrived at The Hut this morning, he’d clearly had a run in with someone not long before. However, I give him full credit for being up for the idea of allowing that grievance to barrel straight down the lens of the camera.
To avoid the fixed-grin camera-face most people have as soon as the camera appears, I’ve been asking people to stare intensely into the lens, as it nearly always makes for a much more interesting photo. Some really struggle, but most get there in the end. And every now and then you catch someone who has all the emotion right at their fingertips.
Festival Director, Adrian
I’m now over halfway through the Festival and what has become clear is I miscalculated how many photos I thought I would be able to get. Partly I underestimated the amount of wall space available in The Hut, and partly I overestimated how much time it would take to chat to people, warm them up, get them on board, get them to fill out a form, take the photos, edit the photos, print the photos, get the photos stuck to the wall of The Hut, convert the photos to web-sized images with my watermark on them, and finally upload them to Facebook and Flickr.
The actual amount of time I spend lining up the camera and going ‘click’ 3 or 4 times is only about 15 seconds. Everything else probably averages out at about 20 to 25 minutes per person.
Back during Spring Fling, at my peak I managed about 50 portraits in a day. However, everyone was coming to me (I wasn’t having to go out and recruit), and I had an assistant to explain to visitors what was going on, convert them to the cause, fill in the paperwork and stick the photos to the walls.
Now I’m managing about 15 per day. However, accumulatively this now means I have about 90 photos on the walls and it’s starting to look good.
Another problem I was faced with was how to stick the photos to the walls.
I began with the idea of drawing pins (thumbtacks), but the board density is too high – it took so much pressure to push one in, by the time I’d stuck one image to the wall, my thumbs were sore.
From then on I started using blu-tack. The problem here is I know from experience it has a wall-life of about a week or so, and then the photos will start peeling off.
A few days ago I tried using panel pins with a hammer, but the boards wobbled so much, I feared they would break before I could successfully hammer them in. Someone mentioned using a photo-mount spray, but then someone else said that didn’t have a particularly long wall life either.
However, writer-in-residence, Robert Twigger, immediately suggested a staple gun as soon as I told him of my difficulties. Perfect. Why didn’t I think of that before?
So last night, David and Jennifer – a couple of the Interns at the Festival – helped take down all the blu-tacked photos and I stapled them all back on the wall.
This also gave me the excuse to spread them out a little more, as I’d been over optimistic when I began and started overlapping them when putting them up. This would have resulted in barely covering one wall, which would have seriously dented the impact of the exhibition.
My favourite hang-out during the Festival when I’m not in The Hut, is The Writer’s Retreat - which is a sort of Green Room for visiting authors. As well as being comfy, it’s quite a good place to recruit faces for the project. Not only can I talk them into it, I can use the natural light from the large Georgian windows to take their portraits. The one of Rab Wilson in the last post being a good example.
Writer’s Retreat (devoid of writers at that precise moment…)
Don't forget, to see the latest portraits, visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collections.
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Tartle
Before I began this artist in residency, I figured it would take me a few days of confusion with a steep learning curve, but by Tuesday I’d have fallen into my stride and it would all begin to flow.
As it turned out, on Tuesday I just felt tired and flat. It was like the intensity of the past 4 days had finally caught up on me.
In fact, I hadn’t even really made it to Tuesday. My mood had started to drop in the latter half of Monday and rather than staying at the apartment provided, I headed home for the night, desperate to see Maggie and the kids. And leaving them in the morning to head back to Wigtown, I was certainly heavy of heart.
I barely reached double figures in the number of portraits I took over the day. This was in part due my decision to try and focus on catching up on editing and printing photos, and putting them on the walls, as I was woefully behind schedule on this.
Highlight of the day, however, was meeting and chatting with Rab Wilson, who is a great advocate for Scots language. Not Gaelic, but Scots – the language of Robert Burns.
Rab Wilson
In some circles there is fierce debate about whether Scots counts as a separate language or simply as a regional dialect. But whichever side your support lies, there is no doubt it is full of rich words, some of which have no direct English equivalent.
Rab mentioned the word “tartle”, which is where you hesitate when introduced to someone because although they are familiar you cannot remember their name.
This sounds like a word that could have been invented specifically for me.
In fact, given how common it is, I found myself amazed to realise there isn’t a dedicated word in English for such an act.
Suitably impressed, I told him I’d be attending his festival event that evening, where he was reading from his book, “The 1957 Flying Scott” – a series of poems about his love affair with a classic pushbike, interspersed with Jazz music from the band “Bright Noise”.
Shortly afterwards I remembered I generally have very little interest in poetry, and jazz has never really done anything for me. Too late to back out now without losing face.
However, I needn’t have worried as it turned out to be fun after all.
Bright Noise with Rab Wilson
If you’re into poetry, jazz and/or bikes, then I think you’ll enjoy Rab’s book, which has been rather nicely bound and includes a CD of the music and linocut images by Hugh Bryden. It’s a collector’s item too, with only 500 having been produced. You’ll find it online here: http://www.hughbryden.com/?p=651
Meanwhile, if you would like to see the latest portraits, indeed all the ones I’ve taken so far, then do visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collections.
.
As it turned out, on Tuesday I just felt tired and flat. It was like the intensity of the past 4 days had finally caught up on me.
In fact, I hadn’t even really made it to Tuesday. My mood had started to drop in the latter half of Monday and rather than staying at the apartment provided, I headed home for the night, desperate to see Maggie and the kids. And leaving them in the morning to head back to Wigtown, I was certainly heavy of heart.
I barely reached double figures in the number of portraits I took over the day. This was in part due my decision to try and focus on catching up on editing and printing photos, and putting them on the walls, as I was woefully behind schedule on this.
Highlight of the day, however, was meeting and chatting with Rab Wilson, who is a great advocate for Scots language. Not Gaelic, but Scots – the language of Robert Burns.
Rab Wilson
In some circles there is fierce debate about whether Scots counts as a separate language or simply as a regional dialect. But whichever side your support lies, there is no doubt it is full of rich words, some of which have no direct English equivalent.
Rab mentioned the word “tartle”, which is where you hesitate when introduced to someone because although they are familiar you cannot remember their name.
This sounds like a word that could have been invented specifically for me.
In fact, given how common it is, I found myself amazed to realise there isn’t a dedicated word in English for such an act.
Suitably impressed, I told him I’d be attending his festival event that evening, where he was reading from his book, “The 1957 Flying Scott” – a series of poems about his love affair with a classic pushbike, interspersed with Jazz music from the band “Bright Noise”.
Shortly afterwards I remembered I generally have very little interest in poetry, and jazz has never really done anything for me. Too late to back out now without losing face.
However, I needn’t have worried as it turned out to be fun after all.
Bright Noise with Rab Wilson
If you’re into poetry, jazz and/or bikes, then I think you’ll enjoy Rab’s book, which has been rather nicely bound and includes a CD of the music and linocut images by Hugh Bryden. It’s a collector’s item too, with only 500 having been produced. You’ll find it online here: http://www.hughbryden.com/?p=651
Meanwhile, if you would like to see the latest portraits, indeed all the ones I’ve taken so far, then do visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collections.
.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
A Quieter Day
The mania of the weekend seemed to have calmed down somewhat in Wigtown on Monday. Although there are still plenty of events during the week, the weekends either side are filled with far more, and tend to contain the biggest names.
I’ve tried to use the day to catch up on editing and printing, but of course there were more people photographed, so I’m still nearly as far behind – striding briskly, yet not seeming to get any further forward.
Highlight of the day was a talk by Hope London, an American artist now based in Scotland, who also has a background in copyright law. As well as being very intelligent and creative, she has a tremendous energy to her.
Turns out she also plays the fiddle. When I told her I had my bouzouki with me, she said she’d look into trying to find a music session this Friday.
My favourite photo of Monday was actually the very first one I took. She was enjoying a courgette and chocolate cake from ReadingLasses café and was quite happy to incorporate it into the image.
As before, if you would like to see the full set of the photos taken so far, please visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collection.
I’ve tried to use the day to catch up on editing and printing, but of course there were more people photographed, so I’m still nearly as far behind – striding briskly, yet not seeming to get any further forward.
Highlight of the day was a talk by Hope London, an American artist now based in Scotland, who also has a background in copyright law. As well as being very intelligent and creative, she has a tremendous energy to her.
Turns out she also plays the fiddle. When I told her I had my bouzouki with me, she said she’d look into trying to find a music session this Friday.
My favourite photo of Monday was actually the very first one I took. She was enjoying a courgette and chocolate cake from ReadingLasses café and was quite happy to incorporate it into the image.
As before, if you would like to see the full set of the photos taken so far, please visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collection.
Monday, 26 September 2011
A day in the studio
In contrast to Saturday, every photo I took of faces on Sunday was done in the studio. I had 10 people through during my open hours in the morning, but after lunch and an author’s talk, I returned to the studio specifically to photograph Leah Black, the new Spring Fling manager.
However, across the rest of the afternoon, a steady stream of people came wandering down to The Hut. Before one person had left, another would arrive. A few friends, a few other Spring Fling connections, and a few random visitors meant the afternoon seemed to disappear.
One way or another I’m going to have to find a way of managing my time better. So far I’m well behind on getting the photos I have already taken printed up and put on the walls; I missed several author’s talks I really wanted to see; and I was up until 2am on Sunday night editing Saturday’s images to go into the blog and up on Facebook and Flickr.
And I’m missing Maggie and the kids.
I found myself, this morning (Monday), feeling a little overwhelmed with it all.
Photograph of the day on Sunday, for me, had to be Eva – a young woman with a tattoo creeping over here shoulder up from under her shirt.
I’m doing my best to try and convince people not to smile, but look intensely down the lens. This will hopefully increase the impact of the experience for visitors looking at the accumulated photos on the wall. It’s also a way of trying to get past the “smile” everyone has for the camera, which is usually a cross between a grimace and fixed grin with fear in the eyes.
Some people are managing it quite well, while others have to take time to compose themselves, and one or 2 just can’t keep a straight face. But Eva was a natural. I would hate to be on the receiving end if I’d done something wrong, but for the kind of photography I love to do, it was wonderful.
To see the full set of the photos taken so far, please visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collection.
However, across the rest of the afternoon, a steady stream of people came wandering down to The Hut. Before one person had left, another would arrive. A few friends, a few other Spring Fling connections, and a few random visitors meant the afternoon seemed to disappear.
One way or another I’m going to have to find a way of managing my time better. So far I’m well behind on getting the photos I have already taken printed up and put on the walls; I missed several author’s talks I really wanted to see; and I was up until 2am on Sunday night editing Saturday’s images to go into the blog and up on Facebook and Flickr.
And I’m missing Maggie and the kids.
I found myself, this morning (Monday), feeling a little overwhelmed with it all.
Photograph of the day on Sunday, for me, had to be Eva – a young woman with a tattoo creeping over here shoulder up from under her shirt.
I’m doing my best to try and convince people not to smile, but look intensely down the lens. This will hopefully increase the impact of the experience for visitors looking at the accumulated photos on the wall. It’s also a way of trying to get past the “smile” everyone has for the camera, which is usually a cross between a grimace and fixed grin with fear in the eyes.
Some people are managing it quite well, while others have to take time to compose themselves, and one or 2 just can’t keep a straight face. But Eva was a natural. I would hate to be on the receiving end if I’d done something wrong, but for the kind of photography I love to do, it was wonderful.
To see the full set of the photos taken so far, please visit the Facebook or Flickr photo collection.
Getting Started
I now have Internet access again.
Although ReadingLasses is a wi-fi café, unfortunately it doesn’t stretch out as far as The Hut, and the apartment I’m staying in was supposed to pick up the wi-fi connection from the apartment next door, but didn’t. Fortunately festival manager and all round organiser extraordinaire, Anne Barclay, managed to get the get an extension cable to the hub moved closer to this place, so finally I have a signal.
After moving everything into The Hut and the apartment, getting a bite to eat and attending a debate on the “Arab Spring”, it was too dark to photograph anyone. I was given assurances by ex-reporter, ex-politician, man-in-the-white-suit, Martin Bell that he would come by The Hut in the morning, but I think he was just humouring me. He certainly didn’t show up.
Saturday, then, was the first real day of being “Artist in Residence”.
I’ve made a commitment to be at The Hut from 10.30am to 12.30pm most days, so didn’t feel I should skip the first day to attend a reading I was interested in. I dutifully set up a studio area in the studio and put up a board at the entrance to the close visitors need to walk down to reach The Hut.
It was nearly an hour before someone came in, but my first arrival was Pam, who turned out to be the mother of Richard, the mohawked drummer from “The Geese” who I photographed back in July (see post on other blog - Appearances). She’d seen my image of him in the Wigtown Book Festival brochure so thought she’d investigate. Fortunately for me it meant my first face to photograph and put on the wall.
I only had one other set of visitors - a family of 4 plus a friend - during the next hour, and they had heard about my event in Spring Fling earlier this year, so wanted to take part in this one.
This confirmed my suspicion that I would not be receiving hoards of people beating their way to The Hut each morning to take part in the project, so if I’m to make this work, I’m going to have to go out and find the faces – they will not be coming to me.
Fortunately, there is a place called “The Writer’s Retreat”, which is a space set aside purely for visiting authors and those involved in the organisation of the Book Festival, so this proved to be more fertile ground. It’s not so difficult to start chatting with people, point to the pass around my neck which says, “Artist in Residence, please let him take your photo”, and explain what I’m up to.
Highlight of the day for me was Celia Imrie. Despite the fact she’d had a long train journey up from London, and was only here for a couple of hours before the long journey back, she was warm, friendly and seemed happy to participate.
At 7pm I had my “Meet The Artist” event, which was open to everyone. It was a chance for me to explain what I was up to to the masses and use the opportunity to take a few more photos.
Not everything went to plan however. Even putting aside the fact I only had about 10 people show up to it (a very wonderful, enthusiastic, supportive 10 people, it has to be said), I’d only taken 3 photos when there was a bang and the studio light I was using went out.
Despite changing bulbs, changing the lighting socket and changing the fuse on the extension lead, there was no saving it and the rest of the event was spent in conversation with no chance of further photos that evening.
After everyone had left, I tracked it down to the fuse box being tripped when the studio light had got so hot (I really should have switched it off between shoots) that it melted the cable running into the back of it, causing wires to touch that shouldn’t be touching.
There was never any danger to life but it did take a bit of time to eventually find the fuse box and restore the settings.
However, now I have Internet access at the apartment, hopefully I can start updating this blog a bit more regularly.
In meantime, visit the photosets on Facebook and Flickr to see complete set of faces taken on Saturday.
Although ReadingLasses is a wi-fi café, unfortunately it doesn’t stretch out as far as The Hut, and the apartment I’m staying in was supposed to pick up the wi-fi connection from the apartment next door, but didn’t. Fortunately festival manager and all round organiser extraordinaire, Anne Barclay, managed to get the get an extension cable to the hub moved closer to this place, so finally I have a signal.
After moving everything into The Hut and the apartment, getting a bite to eat and attending a debate on the “Arab Spring”, it was too dark to photograph anyone. I was given assurances by ex-reporter, ex-politician, man-in-the-white-suit, Martin Bell that he would come by The Hut in the morning, but I think he was just humouring me. He certainly didn’t show up.
Saturday, then, was the first real day of being “Artist in Residence”.
I’ve made a commitment to be at The Hut from 10.30am to 12.30pm most days, so didn’t feel I should skip the first day to attend a reading I was interested in. I dutifully set up a studio area in the studio and put up a board at the entrance to the close visitors need to walk down to reach The Hut.
It was nearly an hour before someone came in, but my first arrival was Pam, who turned out to be the mother of Richard, the mohawked drummer from “The Geese” who I photographed back in July (see post on other blog - Appearances). She’d seen my image of him in the Wigtown Book Festival brochure so thought she’d investigate. Fortunately for me it meant my first face to photograph and put on the wall.
I only had one other set of visitors - a family of 4 plus a friend - during the next hour, and they had heard about my event in Spring Fling earlier this year, so wanted to take part in this one.
This confirmed my suspicion that I would not be receiving hoards of people beating their way to The Hut each morning to take part in the project, so if I’m to make this work, I’m going to have to go out and find the faces – they will not be coming to me.
Fortunately, there is a place called “The Writer’s Retreat”, which is a space set aside purely for visiting authors and those involved in the organisation of the Book Festival, so this proved to be more fertile ground. It’s not so difficult to start chatting with people, point to the pass around my neck which says, “Artist in Residence, please let him take your photo”, and explain what I’m up to.
Highlight of the day for me was Celia Imrie. Despite the fact she’d had a long train journey up from London, and was only here for a couple of hours before the long journey back, she was warm, friendly and seemed happy to participate.
At 7pm I had my “Meet The Artist” event, which was open to everyone. It was a chance for me to explain what I was up to to the masses and use the opportunity to take a few more photos.
Not everything went to plan however. Even putting aside the fact I only had about 10 people show up to it (a very wonderful, enthusiastic, supportive 10 people, it has to be said), I’d only taken 3 photos when there was a bang and the studio light I was using went out.
Despite changing bulbs, changing the lighting socket and changing the fuse on the extension lead, there was no saving it and the rest of the event was spent in conversation with no chance of further photos that evening.
After everyone had left, I tracked it down to the fuse box being tripped when the studio light had got so hot (I really should have switched it off between shoots) that it melted the cable running into the back of it, causing wires to touch that shouldn’t be touching.
There was never any danger to life but it did take a bit of time to eventually find the fuse box and restore the settings.
However, now I have Internet access at the apartment, hopefully I can start updating this blog a bit more regularly.
In meantime, visit the photosets on Facebook and Flickr to see complete set of faces taken on Saturday.
Friday, 23 September 2011
About to begin
In a few hours I'm heading over to Wigtown in time for the start of the Book Festival.
I had a "reality attack" this morning where it walloped me with a sense of what I've set myself up for. This is a major opportunity to screw up and make a fool of myself in front of a lot of people. What if no one wants their photo taken? What if everyone is hostile? What if I forget how to hold the camera? What if I’m up on stage in front of all the dignitaries and important people and I discover I haven’t got any trousers on?
Ok, the last one is less likely. Cold wind around my legs is likely to alert me to any such forgetfulness the moment I step out the door. However, it does show how the mind loves to get carried away in fear.
In actual reality, most things are reasonably under control. Even the leaflets I was fretting about in the last post arrived in plenty of time, and they look quite good.
It seems “The Hut” doesn’t have Wi-Fi access, so uploading images to Facebook, Flickr or this blog will have to be done at other times of the day – quite possibly late in the evening.
The next 2 or 3 days are going to involve a sharp learning curve. I’ll probably be more in my stride by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, now this blog is officially up and running, please feel free to leave comments, ask questions, “Follow”, “Share” and offer words of encouragement.
And if you are in or around Wigtown over the next 10 days, then do seek me out and get your photo taken to be added to the wall.
I had a "reality attack" this morning where it walloped me with a sense of what I've set myself up for. This is a major opportunity to screw up and make a fool of myself in front of a lot of people. What if no one wants their photo taken? What if everyone is hostile? What if I forget how to hold the camera? What if I’m up on stage in front of all the dignitaries and important people and I discover I haven’t got any trousers on?
Ok, the last one is less likely. Cold wind around my legs is likely to alert me to any such forgetfulness the moment I step out the door. However, it does show how the mind loves to get carried away in fear.
In actual reality, most things are reasonably under control. Even the leaflets I was fretting about in the last post arrived in plenty of time, and they look quite good.
It seems “The Hut” doesn’t have Wi-Fi access, so uploading images to Facebook, Flickr or this blog will have to be done at other times of the day – quite possibly late in the evening.
The next 2 or 3 days are going to involve a sharp learning curve. I’ll probably be more in my stride by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, now this blog is officially up and running, please feel free to leave comments, ask questions, “Follow”, “Share” and offer words of encouragement.
And if you are in or around Wigtown over the next 10 days, then do seek me out and get your photo taken to be added to the wall.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Leaflets
This project is going to look pretty poor if I only manage to get a few photographs on the wall over the 10 days of the Wigtown Book Festival, so encouraging people to get involved and let me take their photo is vital.
To this end, I've created an A6 sized flyer to leave in as many places around Wigtown as I can, and am getting a couple of thousand printed...
. 
(Click on the images for larger versions)
I was told by the printer today that they will arrive this Friday by post, anytime up to 5.30pm.
Which is cutting it awfully fine, as the Festival begins at 6pm on Friday.
If there are any delays, I might not get them until after the first weekend, which would be a real blow.
So if anyone has any close ties with the gods of printing and postage, then please put in a good word for me...
To this end, I've created an A6 sized flyer to leave in as many places around Wigtown as I can, and am getting a couple of thousand printed...
. 
(Click on the images for larger versions)
I was told by the printer today that they will arrive this Friday by post, anytime up to 5.30pm.
Which is cutting it awfully fine, as the Festival begins at 6pm on Friday.
If there are any delays, I might not get them until after the first weekend, which would be a real blow.
So if anyone has any close ties with the gods of printing and postage, then please put in a good word for me...
Friday, 16 September 2011
The Hut
With the Wigtown Book Festival beginning next Friday, preparations have been occupying most of my waking thoughts this past week.
As Artist in Residence (see earlier post), I’ve been given a studio space to be open to the public at least a couple of hours each day and to create the artwork in. The space I’ve been provided is in “The Hut”, which is behind ReadingLasses café and bookshop.
Despite my initial thoughts that it might be something akin to a garden shed, “The Hut” is actually a large wooden building divided into several sections and is mostly used for storing large numbers of books that haven’t yet made it out onto the shelves of ReadingLasses.
In the centre of “The Hut” is a room… of sorts.
It has wooden joists rising up to create a frame about 3 feet in from the walls, which has been covered with a muslin kind of material. It’s all rather odd and unlike anything I’ve seen before. It's not unlike being in a tent inside a building.
Novelty is one thing, but the muslin walls are a major problem.
My concept is to take lots of photos over the 10 days of the Festival, of residents, authors and visitors staring into the lens of my camera. And each day I plan on printing out the photos and pinning them to the walls. The idea is that the people in Wigtown during the event become artwork. And as the walls will fill up with all these faces and it will become something of an immersive environment.
But trying to pin photos to muslin walls would be a bit too tricky.
However Anne Barclay, the Festival Manager, is a fast thinking problem solver, and they are going to fix white boards to the joists, giving me a more stable wall to pin the photos to. They will also clear the space around the windows so I should have a bit of natural light.
This should be happening over the weekend so I’ll be popping back out there early in the week to see what it looks like
Friday, 12 August 2011
Wigtown Book Festival - Artist in Residence
With over 150 events across 10 days, Wigtown Book Festival is one of the largest art events in Scotland, even though it is located in a remote town near the Southern tip of Scotland.
Over the past couple of years, they have teamed up with the organisers of the open studio event, Spring Fling, to install an Artist-in-Residence for the duration of the Festival.
And this year they have chosen me!
So from September 23rd to October 2nd, I will be taking photos of residents, visitors and attending authors – in fact anyone who will allow me to point my camera at them.
I’ve been given a space in "The Hut" behind ReadingLasses café and bookshop, where I will be printing out the photos and pinning them to the walls. As the festival progresses, so the room should fill up with faces.
Unlike my participation in Spring Fling back in May, I won’t be confining myself to a studio space to take the photos, but will also be out and about on the street and venues, photographing whoever I can, and hopefully engaging in conversation with people about what I’m up to, and what books they are reading. Indeed, my hope is to be able to scribble on the photo of most faces going up on the wall, "Currently reading…" or "Favourite genre..." My guess is there will be very few people who will conform to stereotype.
It’s going to take a fair amount of planning to ensure I can fit in taking photos, editing, printing and pinning them to the wall, as well as attending events, having The Hut open for a couple of hours each day, and finding time for an afternoon nap...
It’s also going to be something of a psychological trial, as I will have to overcome a natural reluctance to go up to complete strangers and ask if they mind having their photo taken.
Scary?
Of course.
Challenging?
Without doubt.
Exciting?
Absolutely.
For a copy of the Wigtown Book Festival brochure, which includes a list of all the events, the times and the venues, either click on the following link or right-click and select “Save link as…” to download it to your own computer:
http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/pdfs/WigtownBookFestival2011.pdf
Over the past couple of years, they have teamed up with the organisers of the open studio event, Spring Fling, to install an Artist-in-Residence for the duration of the Festival.
And this year they have chosen me!
So from September 23rd to October 2nd, I will be taking photos of residents, visitors and attending authors – in fact anyone who will allow me to point my camera at them.
I’ve been given a space in "The Hut" behind ReadingLasses café and bookshop, where I will be printing out the photos and pinning them to the walls. As the festival progresses, so the room should fill up with faces.
Unlike my participation in Spring Fling back in May, I won’t be confining myself to a studio space to take the photos, but will also be out and about on the street and venues, photographing whoever I can, and hopefully engaging in conversation with people about what I’m up to, and what books they are reading. Indeed, my hope is to be able to scribble on the photo of most faces going up on the wall, "Currently reading…" or "Favourite genre..." My guess is there will be very few people who will conform to stereotype.
It’s going to take a fair amount of planning to ensure I can fit in taking photos, editing, printing and pinning them to the wall, as well as attending events, having The Hut open for a couple of hours each day, and finding time for an afternoon nap...
It’s also going to be something of a psychological trial, as I will have to overcome a natural reluctance to go up to complete strangers and ask if they mind having their photo taken.
Scary?
Of course.
Challenging?
Without doubt.
Exciting?
Absolutely.
For a copy of the Wigtown Book Festival brochure, which includes a list of all the events, the times and the venues, either click on the following link or right-click and select “Save link as…” to download it to your own computer:
http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/pdfs/WigtownBookFestival2011.pdf
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