Wednesday 22 March 2017

A Change of Scene



We are also represented by Saatchi Art:

All the pictures on our blogs are available as prints, usually in Limited Editions.

A  long time ago we had a lavishly equipped studio in Edinburgh where we spent
most of our time - day and night - photographing whisky bottles, beer and
booze generally, for advertising and point-of-sale.  The work was difficult, 
demanding and, unfortunately, by the time we had taught ourselves the
essentials, it became tedious.  That was a pity as it was lucrative.  Life seemed
too short to worry, day in and day out, about the light coming through
a whisky bottle or the size and composition of the head on a glass
of beer.

One day a client asked us to supply a set of photographs for a 'Rum' calendar which
was intended for display in pubs along the east coast of Scotland and the north of 
England.  The obvious subject would be girls.  We were delighted to have a change
of scene and the calendar was successful.  As we were also building up a large stock
photography archive, we saw the chance to hire models from time to time to generate
stock pictures for our agencies.

Naturally, many of the pictures of our models were taken in our well-equipped studio.
But we always preferred working outdoors and we took the opportunity to take models
to some of our favourite Scottish locations.  We took models to Argyll and Fife and the
picture above of Carol was taken on Sandwood Bay, one of the finest beaches we have
ever seen, right up in the north west corner of Scotland.  In those days it was two or three
miles' walk from the nearest road.  Now we hear that, alas, you can drive there.  That day, we had the beach to ourselves, miles of it.

A change of scene beckons again and we saw the opportunity to use some of those original shots as an artist uses his sketch book, or nowadays his photographs, as a basis for
a new work.  That's what we have been doing and we are enjoying the work and
pleased with the results.   










Thursday 2 March 2017

View from the Kitchen Window


We are also represented by Saatchi Art:
On Wednesday afternoons we usually go walking in the hills with a group of
local people, clearing walking tracks which overgrow surprisingly fast
and generally enjoying the amusing company.  Also it keeps us fit as
while most of our companions are in our age group they move like
lightning, up hill and down.
Arriving home in light rain we headed for the kitchen to prepare dinner
and glanced out of the window to see one of the most spectacular
displays of weather since we moved here.  We get interesting light
here on a regular basis but not often anything this spectacular.  It lasted
for only a few moments and, fortunately, we knew where to lay out hands
on a camera.  


Wednesday 1 March 2017

Contrasting Technology


We are also represented by Saatchi Art:




We have a lot of pictures in our archive which we think deserve to see the light of day and we have been working on them to make Fine Art prints.
The question of suitability of various subjects for Fine Art prints is a difficult
one and one of the fascinations with prints is the unlimited range of
opinions from viewers and buyers.  We see a lot of prints that we can not
imagine wanting on our walls.  But then, there are undoubtedly a lot of
potential buyers who can't imagine wanting some of ours on their 
walls either.

Having spent many years photographing technology and huge construction
projects we have a fascination for the inventiveness and sheer chutzpah
of modern engineering. We consider that along with the utility of these structures comes a real beauty and an admiration of their magnificence and their complexity.  Architecture is a recognised and popular source of
inspiration for art, particularly photography.  But we feel that engineering
has largely been left out which seems a pity.

One of our most inspiring and memorable shoots was recording the tow of this
remarkable structure towards the Minch between the west coast of Scotland
and the Outer Hebrides.  There are plenty of superlatives to describe this
structure and we were particularly drawn to the array of six of the world's
largest tugs that towed this errant Greek temple from Loch Kishorn around
the north of Scotland and to its drilling site in the North Sea.



In contrast, when traveling to a work site in Orissa on the east coast of
India, my taxi slowed down behind this bus which was moving at walking
pace through the hot, dense humid atmosphere.  Fortunately and
sensibly no one seemed to be in a hurry.  India has adapted changing
technology in its own peculiar way and Indians, or at least the
population of the sub-continent, seem to have taken our 
'western civilisation' with a pinch of salt.  Perhaps deep down they rather
prefer their own more 'civilised' culture.  Indians remain good humoured
in circumstances that would drive their  'western' counterparts to 
violent distraction.