Highland Journey Photo Exhibition To Tour

In June of 1934, the writer and poet Edwin Muir borrowed a car from his friend and fellow Orcadian, Stanley Cursiter, and set out on a tour around Scotland. In the introduction to his book Scottish Journey, published the following year, he states:

‘… my intention in beginning it was to give my impression of contemporary Scotland; not the romantic Scotland of the past nor the Scotland of the tourist, but the Scotland which presents itself to one who is not looking for anything in particular, and is willing to believe what his eyes and ears tell him.’

In 2006 photographer Robin Gillanders set out in Muir’s footsteps to make an extended journey around the Highlands and Orkney inspired by Muir’s travels – not as a writer, but as a photographer. He has diverted, not just from Muir’s route, but from his remit, by commenting on some of the major contemporary issues facing these remote areas.

Of the several writers who have made a journey around Scotland, Muir is one of the most interesting: he writes before the cataclysmic social, economic and political change brought about by World War Two and yet much of it has strong resonances for today. A main theme is the nature of Scottish identity and how it adapts to new populations settling in the area . The section of Muir’s ‘Journey’ that covered the Highlands took approximately six days and is full of fascinating and eloquent anecdote and description:

“a thin layer of objectivity super-imposed on a large mass of memory”.

Robin Gillanders’ journey took a great deal longer than Muir’s. He states:

‘It seems paradoxical, but photography is a slower process than writing. The writer records their thoughts and impressions, sometimes long after the experience, as Muir did, whereas the photographer has to photograph what is there. You can’t photograph a thought. Subjects have to be contacted and arrangements made; research in situ has to be carried out and due attention has to be paid to The Light. There’s a great deal of enforced inactivity involved in photography.’

This exhibition is a selection from the 50 photographs made over a period of 75 days. They have been made with a 5x4 camera, the film being processed in the converted shower of a campervan purchased specially for the journey.

Tour dates:  

The exhibition is supported by the Scottish Arts Council, HI-Arts, the Highland Council and Napier University