The book is here

Well, I had to put a nice little intro together, but the title of this post says it all. The book arrived today and the morning started with a wee celebration in the form of some Swiss chocolate sent to me from a deal Swiss friend, to celebrate the release of my book. The chocolate boxes had pictures of the book and 'art of adventure' stamped all over them, so it made me laugh quite a bit.

I've got a bit of bubbly to take into my office today too.

I'll be spending today packing the advanced orders and inundating the post-office with them. They did say that if I left them with them, they would process them in their own good time, but I'm wondering how long it will take them?

There will be a book launch and signing this 28th of November at the McDonald Road library along with a 30 minute talk by myself about the making of some of the images contained within the book.

If you're intending on coming along to the book launch to buy a book, please do drop us a line and we can reserve a copy of the book for you.

If you can't make it to the launch, but would like a copy of the book, please go to the Half-Light Press website for more information.

A library of dust

Every now and then, I come across a book, or a set of photographs that surprise me. In the case of David Maisel's book 'A library of Dust', I'm reminded that subject matter can be found anywhere, and even the most unlikely of places can yield images that are fascinating. I'd highly recommend looking at David's site for more of his projects. There are a lot of thought-provoking themes in his work, and I've just bought two of his books because of what I've seen there.

In 'A Library of Dust', David has found over 3,000 metal canisters of cremated remains, tucked away at the back of a disused asylum. Personally, I'm not interested in the morbid aspects to these images, nor the fact that the cremated remains were that of people who were mentally unwell. That, I feel, is like looking for an angle of torment to a story. It simply does not appeal. But what does appeal, is the colours that these canisters present. As he describes them:

"The etching of the copper, and the intensely hued colors of the blooming minerals combine to individuate the canisters. These deformations sometimes evoke the celestial - the northern lights, the moons of some alien planet, or constellations in the night sky".

There's a sense of beauty to these objects.

A book like 'A library of Dust' provides beautiful images of copper canisters. They themselves are landscapes in miniature and David has wrapped them up with an interesting theme.

I'm reminded also, that photography can cover subjects much more wider ranging than just landscape or portraiture. I like to cover books like this one on my blog, to remind us, that there's a whole world of photography out there that most of us have never engaged in nor considered as part of the medium.

On that note, I'd like to say that what I do with my own photography, in the scheme of things, is rather narrow. In fact, I believe that most people who have an interest in photography often don't get further than landscapes, and within that narrow realm, some can't go beyond what they saw. I've often said that photography is not 'real'. We do not see in 2D, we do not see with wide angle lenses, and we do not have the dynamic range of a digital sensor. As human beings, we interpret, engage and respond to our surrounding environment in many ways, and for that matter, a book like 'A library of dust' is a reminder that we can go beyond the normal confines of our own aesthetics, be inspired, and perhaps find something new and  and interesting to photograph.

A Library of Dust is available from Beyond Words.

Patagonia Safari, one space now available

Unfortunately, due to ill health, one of the participants for my Patagonia safari next year, will not be able to make it.

So I now have one freed up space for this Safari, and it's first come first served, so if you see this, and had been hoping to come along - now's the time to jump straight in and book it here.

Music and Images

Once upon a time, I lived and breathed writing music and, I always felt that if I were forced to define myself, I'd have said I was a musician.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

Things change, and over the past decade, I've had to accept that a life in music is not for me. It seems that Photography was always there, sitting in the side lines, waiting for me to sit up and listen. So these days, I now fully accept that photography chose me, and not me it.

But I'm still deeply passionate about music, and I listen to it all the time, whether it's with my Sennheizer HD-25 DJ headphones, or through some of my home hi-fi. Music is the background to my life. So I've been thinking for a while, that i'd love to do a project that could incorporate my first love in a more prominent way.

As some of you know, I have a podcast available on iTunes, and this has been a great outlet for me to use my musical abilities, to set a backdrop for my own music. It's been a lot of fun to do.

But i've been thinking of something a little grander in scale. I would, for instance, love to pay music back. Whereas music has been the backdrop to my life, then would it be so strange to think of putting together an event where my images of Scotland become the backdrop to some of the music that I love?

It's very early days.... and I may be speaking out of turn here. But for the past few months I've been thinking of putting on a show where I invite some of the most contemporary Scots musicians to play their music with my own photography as a backdrop. I'd seriously love to do it, and I've begun talks with a particular outfit that I'm very keen on. It may not happen, but I've discovered over the past few years that an idea can become something real. My book, for instance, was once just an abstract thought. A dream. But with a bit of focus and attention, dreams can become real.

I just mention this all to you, because, despite the reality that if anything comes of this, it will take a year or two at the very least to get funding and organise it properly, the main message is that you should follow what inspires you. For me, inspiration for my creativity (I make no distinction towards photography, as I feel that as a creative person, the medium can change over time), can come from anywhere. I deeply love music, and there are some very contemporary musicians in the Scottish Folk scene that I'm particularly drawn to. They summarise for me, the moods and the feelings I have for my own back yard.

Maybe it's time to put those feelings to good use.