St Kilda
We were very pleased, last Thursday, to welcome Mr Donald Paterson to our club. His illustrated lecture, St Kilda – Islands on the Edge of the Earth, was a fascinating and academic dissertation on uniquely isolated islands situated 100 miles off the north west coast of Scotland.
A photograph of waves 300 feet high breaking against 1,500 feet high cliffs was an indication of the harsh conditions in which the islanders lived before their final evacuation a third of the way into the 20th century. Yet, Donald’s history of the island began over 2,000 years before with the remains of a dwelling from the Neolithic period. A two room dwelling built into a hillside from medieval times was equally interesting.
Donald’s own photographs of the island coupled with historic photographs of the inhabitants portrayed the landscape and conditions in which the islanders lived. Notably, his research uncovered the names of these hardy and resilient people. A fascinating inclusion. We learned of the intricacies of the culture and clothing and how they sustained themselves on an island often rendered unreachable due to weather conditions in the north Atlantic ocean.
The flora and fauna of the island also formed part of Donald’s lecture where seabirds such as puffin ( population 230,000 ) and fulmar provided not only food, but oil crucial to the islanders. Details like the fact that the DNA of mice on the island has more in common with Scandinavian counterparts than those from the UK opened a discussion on the islands past visitors. Now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland there are strict regulations on visitors to preserve its status.
This was a truly engrossing evening which passed all too quickly.
Photography in the Movies
An exciting new addition to this seasons syllabus is Sonja Blietchau who visits us in February 2027 to talk about the work of a stills photographer in the movie industry. A highly experienced photographer across many areas of photography Sonja will be the first movie set photographer to visit our club.