10.11.14 — Travel

Photography Society go to Glasgow

The past weekend (7th – 9th November 2014) I, Izzy, and Beth joined the LUU Photography Society on a trip up north (yes, even further north) to Scotland, where we would spend two nights in “The Tartan Lodge” (I am not making this up) and explore the great city of Glasgow.

Looking up the hill that forms the Glasgow Necropolis

We started off by exploring what could be described as a rather morbid monument, the Glasgow Necropolis, which is essentially an abandoned cemetery. Rather than spooky, however, the necropolis proved to be an excellent spot for taking photos of the old architecture and foliage.

The entrance to a crypt
Izzy and Beth in the necropolis
A momument on the necropolis

It’s location atop a sizeable hill also offered another photo opportunity, with views stretching far over the city and it’s suburbs.

Looking out over Glasgow
Another view from the necropolis

However we were soon in the booming heart of the city (less so due to the cold winter weather), and we set out to find what gems Glasgow may have to offer. We soon stumbled across a little café for lunch, and were recommended to visit the Willow Tearooms, an establishment designed by the legendary Glaswegian Art Nouveau designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Time for tea

We also stumbled across a flea market, showcasing local artisan produce…

A Glaswegian Artisan Market

Before long, we had ventured out of the heart of the city and into some of the suburbs. Determined to see the Glasgow School of Art’s infamous Mackintosh Building, we hopped on the comparatively small subway and headed off to find it.

An empty subway platform in Glasgow

As we’d forgotten that the Mackintosh Building has been unfortunately devastated by a recent fire, we opted to visit the school’s gift shop and mini museum to learn a little about the building and Mackintosh himself, whilst recovering from the relentlessly wet and cold Glaswegian weather.

The next day, however, the clouds graciously parted and we were free to walk without being battered to death by the rain. The cool winter sun provided some lovely photo opportunities, and a saunter over the river and through more of the city provided more great photo opportunities.

An empty junction by the railway
A view over the water
Beth, me and Izzy over the riverBeth, me and Izzy over the river

We also made a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, where we saw a particularly interesting installation, Nathan Coley’s “The Lamp of Sacrifice“. For this, Coley had taken every place of worship from Edinburgh’s Yellow Pages and painstakingly recreated it’s architectural form as a cardboard miniature, which the exhibition’s curators had carefully spread across the uppermost exhibition space of the museum. It’s focus seemed mainly a religious message, one stressing that true faith is more important than the construction of a grandiose church, however I preferred to look past this and just appreciate the scale and precision of the work.

A look up in the Museum of Modern Art
The infamous statue outside the museum

We also stopped by Papercup Coffee Co. for some coffee and a bite to each. I had a delicious breakfast style French Toast and bacon dish and a lovely decaffeinated flat white.

My camera and coffee

I should here mention that, in advance of the trip, I had bought myself a 35mm film camera from the very helpful West Yorkshire Cameras, which is now my beloved Practica. With Boots’ offer on film cartridges and LUU’s free (for PhotoSoc members) darkroom, it was a no-brainer.

Anyway, before our coffee break we also stopped briefly at the botanic gardens near Papercup…

Glasgow Botanic Gardens

And found some cool little side streets near the University of Glasgow…

A moody little street scene

It was a wonderful weekend with a great bunch of people, and I hope to return to Glasgow for another visit pretty soon. There was plenty to wander round and photograph, and for people who aren’t all that serious about photography like myself, there’s plenty of other things to head out for, allowing you to just stop and snap any scenes you see along the way.

Moving on from Glasgow, I have taken some black and white shots on film which I will attempt to develop myself, but for now here’s a couple of colour shots that I had developed upon our return to Leeds.

Not bad for a first attempt at film photography
Izzy and Beth