12 layers of the past. Finding 'me' under there.

12 layers of the past., a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

This is the back wall of a box bed in an abandoned cottage called Allalogie. See this post for the story of my first visit there.  

I stood at this colourful view into the 'past' layers of wallpaper for a while. It was like peeling back the stories of the place - why would you put layer upon layer of wallpaper on the wall? what can it tell us about the people who lived here? who might have lived here? what would it have been like to live here?

Later, back home processing the image, I started daydreaming about being able to strip away layers of my own history to see the changes, to see the good choices, to see the not so good choices with the benefit of hindsight. What would the 'original wall' look like, stripped of all the coverings? Would it be the real me or is the real me the accumulation of all these changes, all these choices, all these shifts of direction?

Last Easter holidays I began reading Steve Simon's book The Passionate Photographer, determined to really 'do it', i.e. work through his tasks and exercises, as the book had been highly recommended to me. 

Well, did I not get stuck at Step One - finding your inspiration, finding your passion! 

A huge part of getting that right is knowing who you are and it seems each time I try to find 'me' it becomes a bit more elusive than I expected. Am I alone is this? Is it just me or is trying to know 'who you are' really quite difficult? 

Maybe I'm a bit more Anaglypta than Flock - repeated patterns?

Looking out for the past in the present, Allalogie.

At the bedroom window, Allalogie., a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

Had a great weekend this weekend.

It kind of started on Thursday night in Tarland at a talk and mini concert by a local accordian player called Rob McCombie. Great stories of his life and dance bands of north east Scotland followed as well as tunes to enhance the talk.
One of the best bits for me was finding out he was brought up in the house we own. So if you wanted to hear one of the best accordian players in the Howe of Cromar back then, you came to our house we now live in! What is interesting is, if you wanted to hear one of the best accordian players in the Buckie area, you came to our old family home to hear my late father play. He played in a dance band called Bill Geddes Band all along the coast and in land too.

On Sunday I met up with Janet, a lady I know from our local history group. She wanted to show me an abandoned house I hadn't been to before. It was a great wee place with some interesting rooms. In fact, I enjoyed the area the ruin was in so much, I went back alone in the afternoon to explore further. This is when I took this shot of me standing looking out the bedroom window.

The textures of the hole in the roof and the hole in the floor I thought were wonderful. I also liked the shadow cast by the jam jar. This was a 3s exposure so I placed myself at the window for one of the many 'ghost' shots I seem to be doing at the moment. It seems to fit the mood of these abandoned, forgotten and derelict places. Maybe it's cliched and unimaginative but I like doing them for now.

Later, I went for a walk in the area and who should I meet but the accordian player Rob! That was a nice surpise meeting and chat. He is keen to come to see his old home. We are looking forward to it and I'm hoping he will once again fill the house with music. What sounds were common in Allalogie I wonder?

Threads of history and traces of memories are there to be found. Remembering and celebrating past places, events and people I truly enjoy and will keep on exploring and capturing abandoned Aberdeenshire.