Mark, Muirhouse Gardens
“There was a lot of trouble around here years ago. Everybody in Muirhouse, Pilton and Granton just fought each other. But it’s calmed down.”
Why do you think it’s calmed down?
“People have just got a bit wiser. Quite a few people from other countries have moved in. We have Polish people living on both sides of us and they're just great. They help us, and we help them.
We've got some problems with kids on electric bikes, especially at night. I can hear them from my flat and the Police don't seem to be able to do much about it. I'm sure there's still trouble, but I reckon it's more behind closed doors now. I like living here though. I haven't been here that very long but I already know more people here than I did where I was living before.
You’re not taking my photograph by the way. I’m not smiling.”
You don’t have to smile. You don’t even have to look at the camera.
“Let’s do it.”
Sisters, Cramond
What is the best thing about your sister? (To the sister in pink.)
“She is so supportive.”
And what is her best quality? (To the sister in blue.)
“She shows such kindness. She’s with me today because my husband has just received a cancer diagnosis.”
The Job Seekers, Waverley Market
"“We're very happy for you to take our photograph. I am 69 years old. My wife is 62. But we can't wait long because we have an appointment at the Job Centre at two o'clock."
Dina, Blackwells Bookshop, South Bridge
“I’m that person who really does choose a book by its cover.”
Does that work out well for you?
“It does. It actually does. Generally, I like to read anything that I pick up, as long as it's in French or English. If I don't like it after the first 30 pages or so I keep pushing because I don't like to not finish a book. I just feel I should give it a chance; you know, maybe it'll get better. After all, somebody's read it and they liked it. Then I get a feeling of accomplishment; it was hard but I did it!
I like to read to get somebody else’s viewpoint on things. I like both fiction and nonfiction just to hear somebody else’s voice in my head. So, when I come into a bookshop like this, I scan the covers and, depending on my mood, I just dig in and see, you know, what’s new, what’s old. My struggle is that every time I go into a bookshop, I just can’t leave without something. Even those little roadside exchange bookstalls I can't resist.
I really do just love books.
And can I just say, I think what you're doing is beautiful. How often does somebody ask for your thoughts and opinions, and then actually listen to you?”
Pop-up Portrait, Victoria Street
I put my camera on a tripod and within two minutes this happened.
‘Afro’, Jameson Place / Leith Walk
“Loneliness is the toughest thing. I came to Edinburgh straight after my wedding nine years ago, but two years ago we divorced. So now since two years ago I'm alone. When I came with my wife we had a couple of friends but they had their own families, you know. When you live with someone for nine years, yourself your wife and your kid there is always someone with you. But then you divorce and suddenly you are alone. And this is one of the worst things. I try, and I am still learning how, to deal with this. The thing is I am OK to be, like, with myself sometimes. But there are times when you want to have company and then there is a problem. Of course, I'm on WhatsApp or Messenger with my friends from Poland and my family, but it's still different when you have someone next to you. You could try to arrange meetings with your friends but getting everybody together can take weeks sometimes. I met one girl after I was alone and for one year everything was fine, but she decided to finish it.”
Do you think there's anything you could have done to have saved your marriage?
“I thought about this a lot before, but you can't go back. So I've stopped wondering what would have been if I had said this, or she had done that. If you asked me one year ago I would have been thinking about it a lot more. I have my daughter every second weekend. I am just going to see her now actually.”
Tom, Muirhouse Gardens
What has been your experience of living in Muirhouse?
“Oh, it’s a nice place. I've got super neighbours. My wife died a few years ago. The neighbours were never overbearing but they all did their wee bit, popping in to say hello, a wee visit and a cup of tea and things like that which didn't really happen before. Well, they did, but more for my wife. When that happened that's when I decided to buy the house.
If you want to know more about the friendship of this area, pop in to the local Post Office. Now it's become a meeting place in the mornings. You go in there for your papers and your milk and all that, and you don't go in and say hello and walk out again! Mornings at 9 o’clock is my time. Lots of people come in and you put the world to rights and we all become temporary politicians.
And there’s a great wee grocery shop at the end. It's the Indian people who have that. They’re an awfully nice family. I couldn't go on the buses during the pandemic because over-70s weren’t allowed to use them. A lot of people just avoided the buses to be quite honest, so the local shop became quite busy, and they stock all the things that they didn't normally stock. And they still stock it all, so it's a good wee shop to go to.
And then there are quite a few Polish people living around here. They’ve integrated really well. Most of them have dogs and children and you speak to people with dogs and children, don’t you? They're great people, very respectable. ‘The Princes of the Streets’, I call them. Yes, extra-nice people.”
Kenny (l) and Keith, Cramond
Kenny: “Mobile phones and social media aren't something we ever had growing up. We worked alongside people, spoke to people, got to know people. We made a lot of friends that way."
Keith: "Aye, it was more interesting than scrolling through a screen"
Kenny: “I've seen people eating together in restaurants who hardly exchanged a single word because they spent almost all of the time on their separate phones. What's that all about?"
Keith: "Exactly."
Kenneth: "By the way, we’re twins and I'm 10 minutes older than him."
Stephanie, West Port
What caption would you like to go under your photo?
“Collecting in fancy dress is my key to success. Just to look a little funny, helps to raise a lot of money.”
I met Stephanie two weeks later. She told me that she was Scotland’s top collector for the Marie Curie Spring Great Daffodil Appeal, for the eighth successive year.
Sylvia, The Royal Mile
How wrong we can be.
I thought she was approaching me to ask me to stop photographing around her property.
Instead, she offered me a coffee while I worked and we became good friends.
