This tetralogy is a remarkable achievement, offering a clear-eyed view of the times without resorting to the usual maudlin emotions—outrage, disbelief. Instead, through her wise art, she offers us reassurance.
Tag: Scotland
Trump Bans 3M Export of N-95 Masks to Canada
Canada may end up adopting the province of Québec’s motto: je me souviens. In years to come, we will say to ourselves: I remember the day America betrayed us.
A Scottish Journal
My wife, Tamiko, and I spent a week in Glasgow to celebrate our friend’s appointment as minister of Glasgow Cathedral. Naturally, I came equipped with my camera. The following is drawn from notes I scrawled along the way:
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
I like John Cage’s approach to music and think it’s equally applicable to other media. During a performance, Cage would open a concert hall and allow all the ambient noise—honking horns and jack hammers—to impinge on the scored music. He saw no necessary distinction between the “official” music listed on a program and the other sounds we encounter in our daily lives. In the same spirit, I see no necessary distinction between the curated works of art that appear in a gallery and the visual gifts that appear in my camera’s lens.
Scottish Scenes
Some of these images are exercises in poor-weather photography. Overcast sky. Threat of rain. Absence of shadows. The last image stands as proof that the sun can indeed shine in Scotland, though not reliably. All these images, regardless of weather & lighting conditions, have at least one thing in common. They all break a basic “rule” of photography: don’t run the horizon line through the centre of your image; place it on one of the lines dividing the image into thirds.
Glasgow Street Photography
Over the past year, I’ve had the good fortune to find myself in some of the world’s best locales for street photography: Manhattan, Hong Kong, & Singapore. Although Glasgow is much smaller by comparison, it shares the vibe that makes these larger cities such great places to shoot.
Jellyfish
Last week, we stayed overnight at a beach south of Dunure on the west coast of Scotland. At low tide, we were able to walk along the sand to Culzean Castle. If we’d been more ambitious, we could have continued along to the village of Maidens where Donald Trump has lent his name to a luxury resort. If we’d been really ambitious, we would have duffed golf balls through the windows, but why waste perfectly good balls?
Speaking Scottish
While (or is it whilst?) visiting Glasgow & environs last week, I was introduced to the sitcom, Still Game (available on Netflix). It’s about two widowers who share a council flat on the outskirts of Glasgow. They frequent the local pub where they round out their geriatric adventures with a few pints and, like all Glaswegians, the more they drink, the broader their accent. There is banter that, to my North American ear, is incomprehensible.
Scary Photos for Hallowe’en
It’s October 31st, the day of the night when the dead cast off their shackles and mingle for a time with the living. To get us into the mood, a few scary photos:
It’s Nae to Scottish Independence
The ballots have been counted and it’s confirmed: Scotland won’t be leaving the UK any time soon. With that in mind, I thought I’d conclude my Scottish-themed series of posts with photos from London.
Graves in Scotland
Well, today’s the day! Scotland votes on the independence question. The fact that my final post in this Scotland series is on graveyards should not be taken as a subtle commentary on the Scottish referendum. I merely thought it fitting that the last in the series should relate to death.
Museums in Scotland
In Scotland, just about every church and castle counts as a museum. For this post, I highlight museums that aren’t churches or castles. Here are photos from four secular museums in Glasgow and all of them are free.
Is Scottish Graffiti Different?
So here’s the question: is there a distinctive Scottish style of graffiti which would justify a distinctive Scottish country? Or is its style of graffiti simply part of a globalized hegemonic free-trade graffiti that you could find anywhere, whether on NYC subway cars or under Iraqi bridges?
Forth & Clyde Canal
There’s no point posting photos of Edinburgh & Glasgow without also posting photos of the thing that joins them, namely the Forth and Clyde Canal. The Canal, completed in 1790 and restored 200 years later, cuts across the Scottish lowlands, joining the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde.
Photos from Glasgow
If Edinburgh is “high”, Glasgow is “low”. If Edinburgh is art, Glasgow is graffiti. If Edinburgh is culture and politics, Glasgow is industry and commerce. You probably see a pattern by now.