Sound of Christmas

This is the best time of year with lots of festive assignments coming in. One of my favourites is the RSNO performing the music to The Snowman. This years reading was done by comic Josie Long. She was fab. Its such a Christmas story. Although it was mentioned that in Glasgow the words are changed to Irn Bru. The orchestra come in for the second half in all their Christmas outfits. This year my favourite was Associate Leader Shlomy Dobrinsky with his red nose and antlers on stage with Orchestra leader Maya Iwabuchi  and Second Violin Anna Bunemann (with a banana on her snowman’s outfit.

Jock & The Beanstalk

I was photographing the Pavilion Theatre’s Panto Jock & The Beanstalk. It was hilarious as always. I saw the production again days later as a guest. I can’t believe how many jokes I missed when I was photographing it. I loved this scene with Grado, Stephen Purdon , Craig Glover as the magnificent dame and Liam Dolan. It was hilarious. You kind of know what’s coming and it’s still funny. I think it’s the anticipation.

90 Years Young

I had a lovely evening at a very special concert. It was the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s 90th anniversary concert at The City Halls in Glasgow. Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth was on great form as were the orchestra. A great performance from soloists Beth Taylor, Pumeza Matshikiza , Ashley Riches and John Findon added to the evening. The high point was Sir Stephen Hough. The audience loved him. He had to have a change of one of his musical pieces as it seems a string was broken in the grand piano, so he had to find a one that did not have that note.

A Virtual View From Space

Imagine visiting a museum and being transported to go anywhere and virtually examine artefacts at astonishing proximity and from every possible angle. I was so pleased to be asked along to see The University of Glasgow’s [un]box Virtual Reality kiosk, a self-contained gateway to worlds that were once out of reach. Being a Star Trek fan the thought my picture should be from outer space would get my creative juices flowing. I wanted to take the picture beside the model of the viewing platform on the space station. I  was with Dr Lynn Verschuren of The University of Glasgow Museums in The Metaverse Team and Derek Shirlaw of Glasgow Science Centre. They laughed when I said I had a fear of fear of heights.

225th Burns Supper Anniversary

I am a big fan of haggis and a good Burns Supper cannot be beaten. I was in one of the oldest rooms in the University of Glasgow, the Humanity Lecture Theatre to photograph ‘Your Burns Supper matters’, which is a project to help shape the future of the global and living tradition photo call. The Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow were launching a new campaign, The Burns Supper at 225 Years: Scottish Tradition, Global Reinvention. Building on nearly six years of pioneering research, the Centre are calling on people worldwide to help create a crowdsourced archive of Burns Suppers events, viewable through an interactive global map to be launched in July next year on the 225th anniversary of the first Burns Supper. It is hoped the archives will feature poems and songs performed at Burns Supper around the world as well as videos, photographs, recipes and dress. I was with Professor Pauline Mackay and Dr Cleo O’Callaghan Yeoman of the Centre for Robert Burns Studies with Burns’ books and a lovely haggis with a rather magnificent whisky sauce.

A Festive City

Buchanan Street is looking very festive at the moment. I always used to do my Christmas shopping pictures for The Herald & Times when I was on shift. There is  always a good telephoto shot looking down towards St Enoch Square, especially now with the Big Wheel. 

There was the usual scattering of buskers singing festive hits but by far my favourite was the Salvation Army brass band. It is an emotional sound, so festive. They were playing outside TGI Friday’s. I did like the picture of the horn player in the window with the cocktails sign in the window. 

Cool Jazz

I love photographing musicians. They always give you ideas of how they want to be photographed. They have a style. One was saxophone player Gerard O’Neil who was one of the finalists in this years BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year. We took some pictures and were trying different ways of holding the sax. Sitting standing, playing we tried lots of different ideas. He was early you see so we had some extra time. When we were looking at the pictures he suggested the over the shoulder look. I thought it looked even cooler in black and white. It goes to show you should always listen to your subject.

Magical Music

Another super musical event  I photographed this month was the BBC’s Scottish Symphony Orchestra with pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. It also marked the debut of SSO’s new Principal Guest Conductor, Delyana Lazarova. It was a lovey concert. What made it for me picture wise was the fabulous magenta dress Isata wore. She looked super cool at the City Halls in Glasgow that night.

Big Is Better

We used two have discussions in college about how the same picture could be better just by increasing its size. Then in the newspapers the same discussion would come up again. How the exact same picture could just look better by being bigger. I was definitely in the bigger is better camp when The High School of Glasgow used one of my pictures in a giant billboard on Crow Road in Glasgow. The detail scale of the picture just looked brilliant. The new Canon R cameras have so much detail in the sensor it is really impressive how big they can go.

Get You In Panto Town

I have not been on the Glasgow Underground since they upgraded the subway cars. So it was nice to get a look first hand with the great company of this years Panto stars Johnny Mac  from The Little Mermaid at The King’s Theatre , Stephen Purdon from Jock and the Beanstalk at The Pavilion Theatre and Catriona Faint from Gallus in Weegieland at The Tron Theatre. It was part of photocall as Glaswegians are being urged to embrace the unique spirit of the city’s pantomime with the launch of Get You in Panto Town, a celebration of the city’s beloved cultural phenomenon, marking a festive finale to the year-long Glasgow 850 programme. We did get a lot of looks from the commuters. I think it cheered them up and made their day.

Getting a Lift to Sport

At this time of the year I usually do a picture of a crowd of university sports students for the launch of this year Glasgow Taxi Cup which happens on the 25th of March.  The Cup has more than 700 student athletes from Glasgow Caledonian, Strathclyde, and Glasgow universities competing across over 17 sports in over 21 events, in the biggest one-day student inter-varsity competition across Scotland. My picture has last years winning sports president Anna Edvaldsson from theUniversity  of Strathclyde in the iconic Glasgow Taxi with some of the sports students. It was extra special this Tim as  The Glasgow Taxi Cup is in its 21st year.

Christmas Is Coming

I always like seeing the Christmas season coming closer. This was my first Santa picture this year. I was at The Glasgow Science Centre to promote their programme of merry-making events, festive films and special Starlight Screenings certain to get the whole family in the mood for the big day. The I Max always makes a good spot for a picture.

Stars on the Stairway

When I saw the production of Hamilton in London. It was under duress, I went thinking it was a rap musical and wouldn’t like it. How wrong I was. It was an amazing show with a fantastic music score and stage production. The lead character, Alexander Hamilton, must have some memory to learn all the words for the show. His libretto must be five volumes of War & Peace in size. I was asked to come along to the press night for the production run at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. There was to be a cast picture on the grand staircase before the start of the show. What a nice bunch. They even thanked me after the pictures. Now that doesn’t happen very often

Jack Lowden Looking Good In A Kilt

It’s great going along to graduations. Seeing all the hope and enthusiasm of the students as they get to the end of their studies. One of my favourite assignments is at the Honorary doctorates Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where this year actor Jack Lowden received an honorary doctorate in Drama at its autumn graduation ceremony. He looked fantastic in his kilt. Some of the other graduates were delighted to be in his press photographs for the newspapers. My picture ended up on the front page in The Herald and a huge picture in The Scotsman too.

Tasty Treats at The Pavilion

I have never tried Wagamama. It always seemed to me it would be something I would not like. More sushi type thing. How wrong I was. I visited the St Enoch restaurant with the cast of the Pavilion Theatre’s Jock and the Beanstalk. What a laugh we had. I thought we would get a small dish to pose with for the pictures. They cooked nearly everything on the menu and the cast got to try everything. So did I. It was delicious. I can’t believe I have never been before. We all sampled everything. Things I would never have looked at I tried. Amazing. The pictures turned out well. Liam Dolan even got a chance to do some of the cooking.

Who You Gonna Call

I remember seeing Ghostbusters years ago. It was good and the sequel was good too. I always wanted to get a back pack on and go ghost hunting. I was delighted to be asked along with RSNO violinist Liam Lynch at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with the members of Ghostbusters Alba with full ghost busting equipment. The RSNO were bringing the original 1984 blockbuster Ghostbusters back to life for Halloween, performing the soundtrack live to the film in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was another fab picture which ended up on the front page.

Books and Coffee

I met authors Graeme Macrae Burnet and Chitra Ramaswamy at Argonaut Books at Leith Walk in  Edinburgh to launch Scottish Book Week 2025. They were given copies of Scottish Book Trust’s free book, Scotland’s Stories: Friendship across Scotland. It is a lovely read. The Trust also have given 70,000 copies of the book across Scotland. I loved the shop. It is a super independent bookshop with a lovely cafe. I loved the skeleton in the window reading as it was coming up to Halloween. Its always nice to find a new place. It is a part of Edinburgh I don’t know at all.

Hunterian Repatriation Project

I was asked to photograph a ceremony at the University of Glasgow. It was a repatriation ceremony at The University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel. I had no idea of the power and emotion the day was going to hold. The Hunterian Museum together  with the South African Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture,  Iziko Museums of South Africa and the South African Heritage Resources Agency and Northern Cape Reburial Task Team, jointly announced the repatriation of ancestral human remains from The Hunterian collection in Glasgow, Scotland, to South Africa. 

I had no idea of the emotion that I would be experiencing at first hand. Leaders of the Khoi and San communities from South Africa were paying respects to their ancestors during the repatriation ceremony. It was such a powerful service. One of the tribes people, Mr Petrus Vaalbooi who spoke in his native tongue which I did not understand but you know I knew exactly what he was saying. It made for some really strong images and the South African colours really stood out.

Father & Son Storytellers

I met  Montel Gordon, of the PhD Scholarship programme with his father, Paul on the balcony of the James McCune Smith building on campus at The University of Glasgow. The father and son students are hoping to build a legacy of black scholarship and storytelling. They are working in The James McCune Smith PhD Scholarship programme at the University as it continues to shape student’s futures and now families. Montel, is one of the programme’s inaugural 2022 scholars joined by his father, Paul, in a family journey of academic exploration. He had his dad were amazing to speak to, so interesting. They enjoyed the trip to the top of one of the universities newest buildings too.

Books In History

It’s been a very literary October. I met Professor Adrian Streete, the University of Glasgow’s Professor of Early Modern English Literature and Religion. He was  looking at books from the personal library of Zachary Boyd which are held in the University’s Archives & Special Collections. The personal library owned by a 17th century Scottish minister, academic and administrator has been brought together for the first time in more than 370 years. These books, many of which have notes in the margins and will allow scholars to better understand this tumultuous time in Scottish and European history. It is quite a feeling being so close to history.