NOT JUST A PRETTY PICTURE..

I am often told I just take pretty pictures, and you know what, if people want to think that I dont really give two poo hoots, especially if they are putting one of my images on their mantle. But truth be told there is a lot more behind my images than meets the eye and anyone who has been in the presence of one of my fabulous lectures will be very aware of such a meaty statement.
Its always been my intention to present images with a short statement and then leave the work to be interpreted as others see fit. Afterall, everyone interprets an image differently in their mind, be it through colour, tone, contrast or content. But sometimes a project becomes so personal and moving that I do feel a great need to explain the reasoning behind each image.
Up until now I my three most personal projects have been The Salton Sea, Border City, and most of all North Shores, a homage to my late Grandfather 6' 7" John McGregor. I could talk all day about these images and take up an hour of your time just talking about a single image from any one of these. But today I wanted to bring your attention to my 108 series again (taking along the border line between Scotland and England which is 108 miles long), in particular the image above.
In July 1915 the 52nd Lowland Division assigned to defend the Scottish coast was being moved to Gallipoli. A total of 210 men lost their lives and another 224 were injured in what is still the worst rail crash in British history after a head on collision with another train carrying the 7th Battalion Royal Scots. The image above was taken where the accident happened near Gretna. The section of the river Esk in this picture divides Scotland with England and is where I started the 108 project.
What haunts me most about this image is the thought of what might of happened to the men on their way to Gallipoli had they got there.

You see its not just a pretty picture..