‘It was the 1980s and the city had a New York feeling. I enjoyed the orderliness of this queue – then this dog came haring past with its tongue hanging out, as if it wanted an ice-cream, too’
Wed 22 Nov 2023 15.47 CET
One spring afternoon in 1983, I used to be walking round Glasgow with my digicam. The metropolis was altering, building as much as rebranding itself in 1990 as European City of Culture. At that point, Glasgow had the identical feeling as New York – there was at all times one thing happening within the streets. Plenty of my pictures come about by likelihood whereas I’m wandering about. You flip a nook and discover one thing you didn’t count on. I don’t actually plan something once I {photograph}: issues someway fall into place.
That was the case with this {photograph} taken at Kelvingrove Park, within the west finish. Most weekends then there have been occasions, live shows and exhibitions at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, which sits within the park. The {photograph} displays what Glasgow was on the time: a place on the up. I used to be having fun with the orderliness of the queue – after which this canine got here haring previous with its tongue hanging out, as if it needed an ice-cream too. It was a pleasant composition, it simply labored. Of course, taking pictures with movie, you hope to hell you’ve obtained it, that you just’ve obtained a straight horizon and nobody within the queue is looking at you.
I used to be working for the Scottish vacationer board on the time. I used to be there for 11 years, till 1984. It was an important springboard: I used to be given cameras and a reasonably free hand. After I left, I had numerous contacts and the work didn’t appear to cease. I did metropolis guides and went all around the world. An editor as soon as informed me I’m a very good journey photographer as a result of I at all times get misplaced. The greatest photos come up that means. I’d at all times meet fascinating individuals. Once I ended up being pushed round Manhattan by a stranger in a Nineteen Fifties Chevrolet – simply because I’d stated: “Great car!” He stated: “Hop in, I’ll show you around.” Things like that occur to me rather a lot.
I’m not into manipulation. You’ve started working with what’s in entrance of you. The most I’ll do is, say, take away an unpleasant cigarette packet. I similar to straight pictures. Composition is an important factor. When you’re taking pictures from the hip, you’ve obtained to take every thing in – shapes, varieties, steadiness – and then you definately begin noticing different issues that create a bit story. That’s the perfect {photograph}, however you’re fortunate for those who get 4 or 5 a yr.
I’m a photographer accidentally. I obtained a job on a neighborhood paper as a trainee industrial artist, however when that fell by means of they felt sorry for me and put me within the darkroom. I realized rather a lot, from the copies of Life journal and Picture Post that have been within the workplace. In the Nineteen Sixties, I obtained a job making blow-up prints for movie premieres at Leicester Square in London. I used to be doing 30ft prints of Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. They’re a blinking nightmare – you’ve obtained £50 value of paper and you need to course of it in an enormous bathtub. I’ve spent a lot time in darkrooms I don’t wish to return. What I really like is the completed picture: if there’s a better method to get there, I’ll take it.
I’m archiving all my photos now. I’m 76 and the drag at my age shouldn’t be with the ability to take dangers. I used to climb up buildings and go to ridiculous ranges to get an image. When I look again, I feel: “Oh my god, did I really do that?” I as soon as obtained into the ocean at North Queensferry, on the Firth of Forth, in November – simply to get the proper angle for an image. You can think about how chilly the water was in winter. I launched wild swimming to pictures – however I’m not going to hold on with it!
I’ve been a photographer for 60 years. The National Galleries of Scotland took six of my pictures lately. One was taken once I was 15. Of course, you achieve data and method, however I nonetheless look for a similar issues. I suppose my work in tourism nonetheless impacts my pictures: I’m not completely happy displaying a place not at its greatest. I don’t want the blue skies, the gorgeous clouds and smiley faces, however I do suppose photographers have gotten to shoot what they imagine in. And I’ve to look on the brilliant aspect.
Douglas Corrance’s CV
Born: Falkirk 1947.
Trained: Self-taught.
Influences: “Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bert Hardy, André Kertész and Arnold Newman”
High level: “Publishing my first Edinburgh book in 1979”
Low level: ‘Getting mugged in Marrakesh in 1971 and losing allmy gear’
Top tip: “Always ask yourself why you want to be a photographer”
• Douglas Corrance options within the exhibition Cafe Royal Books at Stills, Edinburgh, till 10 February
{{topLeft}}
{{bottomLeft}}
{{topRight}}
{{bottomRight}}
{{/ticker}}
{{heading}}
{{#paragraphs}}
{{.}}
{{/paragraphs}}{{highlightedText}}
{{#choiceCards}}
{{/choiceCards}}
