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North of the Border
For lovers of history told in photographs here is a splendid tome. The 236 monochrome and mainly sepia toned images, culled from divers Scottish museums and other archives, cover the century following the invention of photography. The book is divided into chapters on people, places, coastal and rural life, work and industry, transport, and sport and leisure. Each is illustrated by carefully captioned images which show that for some - the islanders and crofters in particular - life undoubtedly could be hard. There is humour too: the pair of Gordon Highlander pipers drinking whisky from enamelled buckets on Hogmanay tickles the fancy, and Kilmarnock FC’s women’s football team of c.1920 looks a fearsome bunch. Events such as the construction of the Forth Bridge, and the building of the liner City of New York at Clydebank, in the late nineteenth century are shown in series, thus giving a clearer impression of the mammoth feats of heavy engineering that the country undertook at the time. This fell into decline in the twentieth century. From wrecked fishing fleets to triumphs of architecture, via the Highland Clearances, this is a highly evocative book which clearly has been researched and put together with a great deal of care and is a shining example of the documentary importance of the still photograph.
The Scots: A Photohistory, by Murray MacKinnon and Richard Oram, published by Thames & Hudson, £24.95, ISBN 0 500 51135 7.
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