Photography – Page 7 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

News from the Centipede

Pumpkin Carving this Thursday!

Muirhouse Community Shop on Pennywell Road’s the place to be for a free pumpkin carving and potato printing workshop. Session runs from 3 – 5pm – all welcome!

Watch the birdie on Friday!

Muirhouse Centipede Project are holding two free portrait sessions on Friday (25 October): 10am – 12pm and 2-4pm at North Edinburgh Arts.

The photos will be taken by professional photographer, Kenny Bean (www.kennybean.co.uk). Each participant will be able to take away a free print of their photograph on the day as well as digital copies of their images if they bring in a memory stick.

The photographs will be used at a ‘Luminous Muirhouse’, a festival of light we are organising for November (see poster below).

The festival is to highlight the housing situation in Muirhouse. We will be painting the blue prints of a ‘dream home’ onto the ground using glow in the dark paint that will be lit up on the night. There will also be furniture made that will represent various community group’s dream home or garden, which will also be painted with the same glow in the dark paint. The home and furniture will be designed through consultations with local community groups.

The images will be projected onto a large wall on the night for the whole community to see.

The Friday sessions are drop-in – for further information call 0131 315 6408.

Joanne McArthur

Centipede Project

College photography students snap up funds for charity

Edinburgh College photography students are hoping to raise funds for two charities as part of their end of year exhibition.

The students are showcasing their latest artwork in Woodland Creatures off Leith Walk, with iconic real life photos of the city and its people as their main inspiration. All of the original photographs have been specially hand-printed and toned in the darkrooms in the College’s own studios.

The Street Photography exhibition runs until 30 May and visitors will have the chance to buy the work with 50 per cent of the proceeds donated to Cclasp and Macmillan Cancer Support charities. Over £100 has been raised for the charities so far.

Photography: Derek Anderson (photographer), HNC Photography student, Edinburgh College

Top cameraman visits Broughton High School

Top TV cameraman Doug Allan visited Broughton High School last week. Doug has worked on some of the most enthralling documentaries of recent years including David Attenborough’s award-winning Blue Planet, Life and Frozen Planet, and he gave a fascinating presentation about working in some of the world’s wildest places.

The visit was arranged by the school’s deputy head girl Maddy Bourne, who said: “It is really great to get Doug, as lots of people at the school are interested in the media. Doug is so big in that scene. The pupils are excited to see him.”

Headteacher John Wilson added, “Doug is so renowned as a documentary photographer and cameraman. I am delighted, as the inspiration for Doug coming here did not come from me or other teachers, but a senior student at the school.”

Gemma’s the little star of 121212!

Seven year old Gemma Pearson’s photograph of her family Christmas tree is the winner of Muirhouse Centipede Project’s 121212 photography competition.

Muirhouse folk were encouraged to take lots of pictures on 12.12.12 on the themes of love, peace, joy and hope and submit them for exhibition. There was a good response and the wide variety of excellent entries is now on display in North Edinburgh Arts.

Judges loved Gemma’s picture, submitted under the theme of ‘Joy’; the photo captured their hearts. Gemma’s caption reads: ‘I took a photo of my mummy’s Christmas tree it is very beautiful. My mum took hours to put everything on the tree it has 360 white lights. Everyone loves my mummy’s tree but I love it the most. My Auntie Nicola says it looks like a tree out of the Christmas movies. This makes me very happy and excited for Santa coming’.

Winner of the adult competition was some bloke who may have overindulged in mulled wine before submitting his entry, a fantastic ramble about Santa and a helper donkey visiting Muirhouse. Too much Christmas spirit!?

See for yourselves – the 121212 exhibition moves to Muirhouse Millennium Centre today before moving on to Muirhouse Library from 11 – 17 March.

Dates set for Centipede photo exhibition

12.12.12 was a particularly special date, and it’s a day in history that has been captured for ever thanks to the Muirhouse Centipede Project. Muirhouse folk were encouraged to get out and about with their cameras on that memorable date, capturing images on four seasonal themes. Reverend Linda Dunbar of Muirhouse St. Andrews’s explains what happens next:

“We received a good number of entries of photographs taken during the 24 hours of 12/12/12 that captured something of the Advent themes of Love, Joy, Hope and Peace. The submissions are going on display in the North Edinburgh Arts Centre from 26 February – 3 March, Muirhouse Millennium Centre 4-10 March, Muirhouse Library 11-17 March (to be confirmed) before ending up at Muirhouse St Andrew’s Parish Church on the 18 March where they will find a permanent home.

The official launch of the touring display will be on

Tuesday 26 February at 11am in North Edinburgh Arts Centre

with free coffee and scones on offer too! The winners of the children’s and adults’ entries will be on display – it would be great to see folk there.”

Centipede to spread Christmas cheer with photo event

Muirhouse Centipede Project have come up with a ‘cracker’ of an idea …

12.12.12 Hope-Peace-Love-Joy Photographic Event

Take a digital photograph some time during the 24 hours of 12/12/12 that captures something of the Advent themes of Love, Joy, Hope or Peace. Send your photo, together with your name and age and 100 words or less telling us about your photograph to centipedephotos@gmail.com no later than 31 December 2012.

Prizes for the best in categories pre-school age; primary school age; secondary school age, 18-65, and 65+.

An exhibition of the entries and winners will be held in the North Edinburgh Arts Centre in early spring 2013.

Warm welcome for Muirhouse photo exhibition

Borga Prada Garcia’s eagerly-awaited photographic exhibition opened at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Tuesday. Friends, colleagues, local residents and at least one of Borja’s photographic subjects came out in strength to support the ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ event.

Borga spent the best part of a year photographing people and buildings in Muirhouse and Pennywell while studying at Telford College, and the ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ photo-essay for his Photography HND achieved top marks.

The project became a labour of love, and Borja’s affection for the people he met during his time in the area shines through the images on display at North Edinburgh Arts. It’s taken a lot of work over the last few months to get the exhibition open, but Borja is delighted that his work is on view in Muirhouse.

“I am so pleased that the exhibiiton is here in North Edinburgh Arts Centre. I wanted my pictures to go on display in Muirhouse before they go anywhere else and for local people to see them first – it was important to me”, he said.

Borja wanted to portray Muirhouse in a positive light, and his work achieves that. “I was aware of the very negative image of Muirhouse, but I found it a fascinating place with many warm and welcoming people who I now call friends. It’s too easy to just make assumptions about people and places: I hope I show the real Muirhouse – the place and the people who live here – in my images.”

Borja decided not to make a formal speech to open the exhibition. “I am still working on my English language and I would prefer the occasion to be informal and friendly. I thank everyone for coming, of course, but yes, I will let the photographs tell the story themselves.”

Welcome to Muirhouse can be seen at North Edinburgh Arts on Tuesday – Friday from 10am – 8pm and from 10am – 1pm on Saturday. Until 30 November.

Welcome to Muirhouse to open in … yes, Muirhouse!

Borja Prada’s ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ photography exhibition opens at North Edinburgh Arts Centre next week. Borja’s pictures tell a wonderful story, so see the exhibition – and quite a few ‘well-kent’ local faces – if you can …

We have previously featured Borja’s work in both the NEN’s print and blog versions, but his story’s worth telling again. Borja, who’s Spanish, was a student at Telford College and his daily bus journey to college took him through past Pennywell shops. When it came to choosing a subject for his final examination exercise, Borja decided upon Muirhouse – the buildings, the people and the sights.

The young Spaniard (pictured top) spent eight months taking photographs and getting to know individuals and families across the area, building trust and forming lasting relationships while compiling a large body of work for his portfolio.

The result was ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’, a book of photographs Borja paid to have printed – and a remarkable 98% pass mark for his examination result!

The photographs tell the story of Muirhouse as it is today, capturing personalities and places before the place changes forever through regeneration.

Borja said: “This upcoming display is organized to show the work I have been doing for the past year documenting Muirhouse and the lives of its inhabitants. It will give a chance for everyone to meet there with the local community and anyone interested
in arts is most welcome to come along”.

‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ opens at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Tuesday (6 November) from 5.30m, and will then be on display until 30 November.

PREVIEW Some images from the exhibition:

In Dad’s Shoes exhibition opens at Scottish Parliament

In Dad’s Shoes, a photo exhibition which shows what it means to be a dad, opened in the Burns Committee Room in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood yesterday.

Organised by Fathers Network Scotland and Dads Rock in conjunction with Dad’s House, the exhibition tells the story of thirty dads of all types, through images and their own words. The pictures – both personal snaps and professional images – shows the great variety of life as a dad, and the aim of the exhibition is to highlight positive, caring images of dads and their children.

Two local men were among the thirty dads whose stories and pictures were recorded for the exhibition. Dads Alex Newport, from Wester Drylaw, and Malcolm Borthwick, are members of a North Edinburgh group set up specifically for dads. Based at the Haven Project in Craigroyston Primary School, the father’s group is run by Circle Scotland’s Nick Smithers, who enlisted the NEN’s help.

Alec and Malcolm were photographed and interviewed last month, but this was the first time they had seen the finished product – fortunately both men were happy with the display!

Alex Newport lives with his sons Cameron (12), Declan (9) and daughter Tiffany (7) in Wester Drylaw.

“Life doesn’t always go to plan. My partner developed Huntington’s disease and is now in care – that had a devastating effect on our family, and it’s been really tough. There have been lots of ups and downs, but things have been more settled as the kids have grown up. They understand more now. The biggest challenge has been the change in lifestyle – from having enough money to having to be very careful, but have a social life as a family and we’ve done lots of fun things together over the summer.

“My big hope for my kids is that they enjoy school – I didn’t have a good educational experience and really I hope my own children will continue to enjoy school – the opportunities available to them are much greater. There will be more challenges – Cameron is nearly a teenager, and daughters can bring other challenges – but we’ll get through them together.”

Malcolm Borthwick lives in Granton with his two-year old son James.

“It was an almightly struggle to get custody of James – my ex-partner’s family made things difficult and I think at first the authorities thought that, because I was brought up in care myself, I wouldn’t be a fit person to bring up my own son. I think the opposite is true – I’m going to do everything I can to make sure James gets the opportunities that I never had.

“I have a boy and girl from a previous relationship. They’re both really brilliant, and I think I’ve learned enough from bringing them up to make sure James is well looked after and cared for. We do everything together – fishing, reading books, going for walks – and I try to make sure James eats all the right things and has a healthy diet. He’ll get the best start in life I can give him.”

Alex, Malcolm and Nick (pictured top) were joined at Holyrood by Circle Scotland Director Liz Dahl, and parliamentarians of all political persuasions were among the first-day visitors – Children and Families minister Aileen Campbell, Sarah Boyack, Lewis MacDonald, Margaret McCulloch and Ann McTaggart were among those MSPs to look in on the exhibition.

Good news for North Edinburgh dads – dad’s group Dad’s Rock will be launching new weekly sessions at The Prentice Centre on Saturday mornings from the end of October. We’ll keep you posted with details when they are confirmed.

Local dads off to Holyrood!

Two local men will feature in a photographic exhibition at the Scottish Parliament next month. Dads Alex Newport and Malcolm Borthwick and their families are part of the ‘In Dad’s Shoes’ exhibition being staged by the father’s group Dad’s Rock.

Wester Drylaw’s Alex and Malcolm, who lives in Granton, are members of a North Edinburgh group set up specifically for dads. Based at the Haven Project in Craigroyston Primary School, the father’s group is run by Circle Scotland’s Nick Smithers.

Nick explained: “The exhibition comprises of photos of all kinds of dads and their children, telling their own stories through photos and with words. The images show a variety of differing stages of being a father, ultimately the aim is to highlight positive, caring images of dads and their children. The exhibition has been on view at Eteaket during July and August, and, complemented with added new material, will go to Holyrood next month.”

Previously on display south of the border following an official launch at the House of Lords in June, Dads Rock and Fathers Network Scotland worked in conjunction with Dads House to bring this unique photo exhibition to Scotland. It’s hoped that the display will continue to tour Scotland after the Holyrood exhibition.