The A9 is the longest road in Scotland, flowing 269 miles from the central belt to the country’s north coast. It is a route I have travelled often since early childhood, and in 2014 I created a visual monograph on the road, documenting both its historic and present routes. This image is part of my series, reflecting on the nostalgic and emotional resonances of a lifetime of journeys made along this arterial link between Scotland's north and south.
The idea of ‘flow’, shared by the Inverness-based FLOW Photofest and chosen by Stirling Photography Festival as their theme for 2021, formed a link between the two festivals. This led their organisers, Janie Meikle Bland and Matt Sillars, to consider what physically links their events - the A9 road itself. To embrace this shared connection, my ‘A9’ series was exhibited simultaneously at the Tolbooth Gallery in Stirling, and at XOKO in Inverness, for the month of August 2021.
Thanks to the dedicated staff at Stirling’s Tolbooth Gallery, my words and images were brought to life in moving sequence on large digital displays, carrying viewers on a journey from the tip of Scotland down to the central belt along the same route I’d recorded seven years previously. I was welcomed to Stirling under a bright August sun by Janie and Rab, and also enjoyed attending the festival’s many events from the comfort of my living room in Glasgow— accessible online talks being a real silver lining of the pandemic, helping to remove barriers across countries and between the urban and rural — an element which was put to excellent use by SPF’s organisers and its team of talented volunteers for their 2021 festival.