‘You’re just up the road from Edinburgh’
I love it when people with little idea of scale, usually the result of a lifetime spent in cities, start talking about distances.
Today, it was the turn of an editor on the Observer’s picture desk.
He telephoned to arrange a time for a photographer to come out to photograph us, the pigs and the croft to accompany the forthcoming article about “modern smallholders”.
The editor told me they were going to use an award-winning photographer from Edinburgh.
“After all, you’re just up the road from Edinburgh, aren’t you?”
Strictly speaking, we are indeed up the road from Edinburgh, but there’s no “just” about it.
In a modern car, in good weather, with no traffic congestion, with no accidents, and with no farm machinery on the last stretch of road, it takes about three hours and 45 minutes to get from Edinburgh to our croft.
More usually, though, it takes about four and a half hours, while our old Land Rover does it in about five hours on a bad day.
The photographer is to arrive here about 4pm, do the job and then return to Edinburgh—making it a full day to get one set of photographs.
Of course, it’s not as far as the distances people travel in parts of the US and Australia, but by British standards it’s definitely not just a run up the road.
I hope he gets paid well for it.
If it’s Murdo Mcleod they are sending I would be totally star struck, he is my all time favourite photographer: and if it is, there is nothing in the geography of Scotland that would come as a surprise to him. I have been ‘Murdo spotting’ (looking out for his work) for two decade, in both the Scotsman and the Guardian newspapers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/interactive/2008/aug/18/edinburghfestival.festivals
Agree with comment above – Murdo McLeod is a wonderful photographer. It does seem odd to use one from so far away though, but hope the shoot went well and I look forward to seeing the photos and reading the article.
Yes, you’ve both got it in one. It will be Murdo McLeod. My two favourite photographs of his can be seen in the Reportage section of his website: 01 Foot and Mouth and Peat 03.
thank you for linking to such beautiful, thought provoking images.
You’d best get your teeth in, because they will be beautifully lit
My favourite (no strike that) the most powerful image, I remember by Murdo was from the ‘foot and mouth’ reportage, a farmer in a byre with his cow, the cows warm breath, caught in the light of the cold byre: it made me cry.
Roy Keane with the ravens skull is my favourite portrait, its got something ‘mathematical’ about it’s proportions, not sure I can explain it, it just holds the viewers eye.
I am very envious, I would love to see him at work; but I look forward to the Observer dropping on the door mat,
A lot of his photos leave me with a lump in my throat – whether tears or a smile. He’s a true artist and visual poet I think.
Did he arrive on time?!
Recently, a group of 50 Angolan Catholics, and their bishop, arrived in Australia for the World Youth Day celebrations and papal visit. Unfortunately, they were under the impression that Adelaide was “just down the road” from Sydney… At least your photographer knows the area! Hope it was an enjoyable time.
As is the way with the media, it’s all change. The article has been brought forward and now goes to print on Tuesday. That means the photography has to be done tomorrow (Friday) and Murdo McLeod can’t do the job.
Instead, we’re being photographed by Martin Hunter, portrait photographer and philosopher. He’s coming up from Glasgow.
The shoot will be a good experience for the Other Half as she teaches Media Studies as well as English. She’ll be able to see how it takes hours to set up the photographs and only 20-30 minutes to do the actual photography.
We were at it all afternoon for only thirty minutes’ actual photography!
Amazes me that even in broad daylight (& unusually on a sunny day too) artificial lighting is still required.
They do say never work with children & animals – it reinforced why. We had a couple of the goat kids for one of the sessions recently & they misbehaved the entire time, whilst the adult goats muscled in on all the shots & tried to eat/climb the equipment! And the ponies refused to be photographed at all…
Hope you had better luck with the pigs.
Stoney,
you mention the article going to print on Tuesday – I just want to confirm therefore, that it’ll be published in the Observer magazine dated 7th September, which is our understanding of when it’ll be unleashed on the unsuspecting public….!
That’s our understanding, too, but knowing the way newspapers work I’ll only believe it when I see it. (Things change, often at short notice.)
Pigs, children and rapidly changing light are not the easiest of combinations to work with, but Martin did seem to enjoy himself. I’ll post about the day later.