April 2022

On a Bus with The Four Seasons

Some days you gets photo calls where all your favourite things all happen at the one time. I am a fan of a bus tour, I like the theatre and I like a visit to the Baby Grand. I had the good fortune to be asked to cover the photo call for the production of the Oliver Award-winning Jersey Boys production as it returned  to The King’s Theatre in Glasgow for a three-week run.  The musical tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons as they rose to fame from the streets New Jersey. I thought I would enjoy the show but did not realise how good it would be. It was really brilliant. I was never a Frankie Valli fan and didn’t know much about them. Being more into heavy rock, etc I didn’t think this music was on my radar. So no one was more surprised than me that I knew almost every song.

Who Doesn’t Love a Kilt

I spent a lovely day at the Moss O’Balloch Park covering the finish of the Kiltwalk 2022 with the Kiltwalkers from the National Autistic Society. What a great bunch they were, so enthusiastic and I was fortunate to be close by when some of them met up with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon when she came in through the finish line. She was so nice with the walkers. The good thing was no-one was out of breath, however I was puffing and panting running up and down the finish line. It was so warm and the sun shone practically all day.

Reading Is Caring

I was asked to shoot some photographs for the Scottish Book Trust for their new programme Reading is Caring. It is such a good idea. More and more people are living with dementia in Scotland. The Reading is Caring program will help both people living with dementia and those who care for them to use reading and sensory experiences to create special moments and spark memories. I photographed two groups of people who were reading together and it was great to watch the interaction between them. As a photographer the picture is often made watching the interactions of people together.

Hamilton School for the Deaf Write JoJo Gnome Character

I was invited along to the Hamilton School for the Deaf to help my better half and writer of the JoJo Gnome Books, Jo Hall, who was working with the pupils to produce a new character for her much loved Jojo Gnome Story Podcast. Jo had worked with the pupils to come up with the character Ella the Elf who is deaf and has cochlear implants to help her hear and enjoy music. It was amazing how all the kids and teachers all communicated with sign language. It was me that was the odd one out and how they had to keep me up to speed with what was going on.  The youngsters as well as coming up with the ideas for Jo’s story also made a film about how they made the character. The JoJo Gnome project was funded by Creative Scotland and is available online. The Hamilton Advertiser gave is a great show in the paper and online.

Check out the pupil’s film here too.