Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Craigellachie Bridge

Built from 1812 - 1814, the Craigellachie is the oldest bridge in Scotland. Designed by Thomas Telford and spanning the River Spey, it was one of the first cast iron bridges ever built. It's also a great spot to feel a light rain as you walk along the river after a dinner of "Highland" Chicken at the Highlander Inn, a speciality of chicken stuffed with haggis! (This photo looks a little crazy because it was shot with a panorama app on my iPhone.)

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Whisky Line (Keith & Dufftown Railway)

We took the train today from Dufftown to Keith. It's an 11 mile long trip along a refurbished railroad track that was shut down for use in 1991 but 10 years ago was reopened and on the weekends the train is run by volunteers. They even sell tea at the station that you can bring on the train in mugs, which the conductor politely takes from you when you are finished. Along the route are 7 distilleries and 2 castles. We missed the big celebration however because tonight was their actual 10th anniversary and they were having £10 pint and pie night on the train!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Some Things are a Little Different

Living in a new place for a little while, things are just a wee bit different. I'm trying to take the time to notice and appreciate the changes... like line drying my jeans!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Walking the Isla Way

Throughout Scotland there are walking trails that will take you almost anywhere. The Scotish Parliament passed a responsible right of access that allows people to wander about across hills and mountains and alongside rivers and lochs. The Speyside Way is the largest of these paths near where I am staying in Dufftown. The River Spey comes out of the Cairngorm Mountains and flows north to the sea. It can take up to a week to walk the length of the Speyside Way with many paths running from it. The Isla Way connects Dufftown and other local villages to it, but just to walk along the Isla Way one can go over 12 miles in one direction. I walked part of it from Dufftown to Lock Park, about 8 miles round trip. I started off right outside my cottage and walked through the grounds of 3 distilleries, crossed the River Fiddich on an old metal suspension bridge and then crossed over a hill through fields and forests before descending the other side to the Loch.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

"Summer Dream" Fashion Story in Menswear

Menswear Magazine relaunched this week in Milan. Here is the fashion story I shot for it. It was styled by Alex Badia, with grooming by Anna Bernabe and the models were Travis Bland (Wilhelmina), Ryan Schirra (Re:Quest), Rory Torrens (Major) and Helge Gjerstad (VNY). It was a great shoot out on Peter's Pond Beach in Sagaponack. The bonfire was amazing and it went great with the full moon.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Rothiemay Stone Circle

These five Neolithic standing stones form a circle that is 80 feet in diameter. They are located on the Rothiemay Home Farm in Aberdeenshire. The special thing about the recumbent or altar stone is that it is marked with 50 cup marks and some of them are ringed. A possible explanation for the markings is that it is a map of the constellations in the sky at that time.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Balvenie Castle

This eleventh century castle is just a short walk from my cottage. It is one of more than 300 castles in the care of Historical Scotland. In 1562 Mary Queen of Scots stayed here for two days.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Scotland: My Artist Residency Begins

I interrupt these somewhat regularly scheduled blog posts for an almost complete change of direction because I have just arrived in Scotland to be an artist in residence for the next 3 months and will be recording some of my experiences here. As usual the focus will be on photography (like this blog) but I will occasionally be offering some more diaristic experiences from this adventure. The thing i look forward to the most is being able to walk out everyday and make photographs just for me. I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to continuously shoot something for more than a week at a time. The idea to think about a place and different ideas for such a long time, to truly distill my thoughts slowly is a great gift. And my stone cottage (above) will shelter me from the rain when necessary and warm me in these cooler climes. And of course I will still be posting about fashion, etc. more than once in awhile, but as of now, here we go!