Now envy isn’t the nicest of emotions, but I am willing to admit to being be a tad envious of Stonehead this week, he’s not had such a good run of things of late, what with his teeth an’ all, but this week he’s had a bit of a treat, (well it would be for me) the Stonehead croft is to feature in an article about smallholding’s, in the Observer newspaper, it’s not the article that has brought out the green eyed monster in me , what I know about running a smallholding, would just about fill a post card not a magazine article, no, it’s the fact that the photographs to accompany the article are to be taken by Murdo McLeod
I have been ‘Murdo spotting’ as it’s become know in this house, for the best part of two decades, he is my favourite photo journalist, my appreciation of his work all started way back, when Mr Uhdd and I lived in Scotland, I had a daily commute, to Edinburgh, on the outward journey I read the Guardian, on my return Journey it was the Scotsman newspaper ( it was particularly important not to fall asleep on the way home, or I would end up in Inverness, which was along way from our home.)
Never since have I managed to read two newspapers a day, but even when work and family commitments have curtailed my reading, I’ve usually managed a quick glance at the pictures (I’m a visual sort of gal) and I can spot a Murdo from a good distance, it’s the way they are lit and composed not to mention the landscape that the majority are taken in. Mr Uhdd and I have often debated, would Scottish news items get as many column inches if it were not for the imagery of Murdo McLeod, which came first the chicken or the egg? I usually cut and paste images from the Internet with gay abandon, but such is my respect for this mans work, that I couldn’t possible reproduce his work with out permission, so if you are at all interested, you will have to go and look for yourself.
My three favourite
Drugs users in Glasgow, arresting, powerful edgy
Reportage on the foot and mouth outbreak 2001, harrowing, sad, angry
Roy Keane and the ravens skull, simply a hypnotic photograph.
I would love to spend a day just watching how he does it; so who dear reader would you like to meet, past or present, one person who you would want to see at their work, do please tell.