"in The Fire Of Images, Gladly I Put My Hand"

[Rob MacKillop]

These are from the Writer's Close, Edinburgh - an area dedicated to great writers, novelists and poets, of Scotland's past.

fire 2 by RobMacKillop, on Flickr


Writers Close 1 by RobMacKillop, on Flickr


Writers Close 3 by RobMacKillop, on Flickr

DP1M/SSP/LR4/Nik Colour​

 

[Tom Dunne]

Fantastically high buildings and those ominous shadows in Writers Close 1 are good reminders of what else is around.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Yes. Somewhat surreally, we know a guy who lives in the main building in the second shot, a Woody Allen-type neurotic New York jew, who seems to be a millionaire. He has collected an enviable library of 18th and 19th-century books and manuscripts, hundreds of them, and allows PhD students in to do research on them. I'll be meeting him again next week, when I give a talk to the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society on publications for the guitar in 18th-century Edinburgh. I'll be illustrating the talk with performances on an original "guittar", as it was called. And here it is:

 

[Tom Dunne]

Absolutely beautiful Rob. What a lovely full ring there is to the sound from that instrument; a sound that at times sounded like a distant cousin of the harpsichord. I have been finding my way through your music website and I must say it is a tremendous resource for students and anybody who likes music. I envy musicians, especially those who can make a living from it.. I fiddle on guitar, flute and penny whistle; useless on the first two but sort of ok on the whistle (if I put my mind to it). You have some beautiful stringed instruments.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Cheers, Tom. I don't own all the instruments on my videos - I just don't earn that kind of money. Quite a few luthiers or companies send me instruments for a few weeks or months, and I make a video for them, but then I have to send it back...still, I get to play some really nice instruments for a while.

An Irishman playing a penny whistle? Whatever next?!

 

[Pete Askew]

Superb stuff Rob (and another great video / recording). I like the simple tones of the first and the last has a great sense of scale. But the middle shot is my favourite. I love the colours and the details but it is those shadows cutting into the image that transforms it from good to great for me. You are certainly getting on with the DP1, that's for sure.

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Superb set Rob . Particularly like the second with the shadows. Fine music as usual and always enjoy the sounds you make.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Cheers, guys. I got very excited when I saw how deep and angular the shadows were in the second. They really bring a bit of drama to the shot.