Julia, Nicolson Street - ‘monsters change over time’

“I came from the United States, from Utah, to do a master's degree. But I loved Edinburgh so much I had to figure out how to stay, so now I'm doing a PhD!”

What’s your subject?

“I do media studies, specifically I look at American monster media.

I just think it's really interesting how monsters change over time. The little tweaks that make it different over the centuries reflect what we as a society are anxious about in that particular moment. So, I wanted to look at what monsters in media today tell us about what our society is afraid of, and what we see as ‘other’ to us today.”

What would you say it reveals of societal fears today?

“I feel that in a lot of contemporary American media we're starting to see a move away from the monster representing a marginalized person - the monster representing the queer person, or the person of colour, or the woman - and towards the monster representing systems of power that oppress people. A handful of recent vampire movies really embody the vampire as like the really wealthy white person who comes in and gentrifies neighbourhoods or exploits black labour – so whiteness and its oppressive power, rather than marginalized people, being marked as ‘other’.”

Has your subject been a focus of your interest for a long time?

“One of my teaching jobs in the States was at an alternative High School for kids who've been kicked out of regular High School for whatever reason. One of the courses I taught was a gothic literature class, and it was so fun to be able to see these kids who don't care about anything to kind of light up when you're talking about monsters and ghosts and scary stuff, and it just really sparked my interest in it as well. So, I thought that if I, in my little pipe dream, ever go get a PhD I want to be studying monsters. And here we are!”

Do you think your 15-year-old self would be surprised to see you here today?

“She'd be floored! Yeah, she thought by 30 I'd be married with a couple of kids, you know. And instead, here I am in Edinburgh studying movies and books. She'd be floored, but she'd be thrilled!”

Ritchie, Ritchie Collins Gallery, Henderson Street, Leith - ‘it’s about gathering all these feelings and stories’

To what extent does Leith inspire your creativity?

“I always came to Leith when I was young. The Leith of these days was very different. I remember all the scrap yards and ships, loads of greasy spoons and trucks coming and going. There was a lot of industry here when I was wee, and I loved it, just running about. So, Leith was always there as an inspiration. And then the more I've been here, which is 15 years now, and learning about the history, getting more information about it and gathering stories, it's more inspiring than ever.

It’s been just hearing all the tales of how it was in the past. Like the pirates being here. There were pirates executed where the Burns statue is on Constitution Street. It’s said that Leith Walk was full of birds of paradise in cages, monkeys in the shops, things from all over the world that were coming off the boats. One of the stories I love was about a pub that had a live puma in a cage behind the bar! There are stories about it escaping at certain times, and how it would take a swing at anyone standing too close to it with their pint. So, you get the idea of what it must have been like living down here back then. And then there were all the Oyster Bars full of sawdust floors, and oyster shells everywhere.

So, yes, I'm fascinated by Leith. I’m not painting Leith per se but an idea of Leith, the feeling of Leith, and trying to weave these kinds of stories and feelings into it. I’m stylising everything, so nothing is particularly as it is or realistic, but people accept it because it gives you the feeling of Leith, or old Edinburgh. That amazes me and keeps me inspired, you know, because I'm not tied down to trying to just paint a pretty view. It’s about gathering all these feelings and stories and trying to put it all in.

That’s what I always wanted to do; painting with an ‘other worldliness’ about it. I used to go to the Western Isles, to places like Iona and Skye that really inspired me. Scotland's got such an amazing history of myths and legends and tales, but not a lot of artists really tap into that side of things. I was really inspired by these stories and by trying to get that into a painting. And I was reading a lot about different kinds of spiritual things like Shamanism, and all sorts of stuff. That's when I was into at the time. So, I was trying to get that into the paintings, and that developed into my style just now.”

Is your artwork all about Edinburgh?

“No. I’d say about 80% is commissions from all over the country and abroad. It always amazes me because it doesn't really stop, which is lovely. I've just got a commission for a picture of Leith from a couple who used to live in Leith and are now in Rome. ”

Given that about 80% of your work is commissions, do you find you are still able to express spirituality or imagination, folklore, myth, in any of the work that you do now?

“Definitely. All the time. Which is amazing. The commissions don’t always lend themselves to that, you know, because they’ll be a specific place or something, but I sketch a lot, sometimes through the night, just doing my own thing, which is really good. I work away at home sketching on an iPad Pro, so I can just sit any time and draw away. And then I can come in and all the files are there to work from the next day on the computer. That bit of technology has been great for me.”

Brian, Kirkgate Centre, Leith - ‘if it wasn’t for my younger son’

“My wife Jackie passed away just over 20 years ago. It was the fourth of January, 2005. Well, it took me years and years to get over that. I turned to the bottle, and I drank myself stupid for months and months on end.

If it hadn’t been for my younger son, I would probably still be on it – or, well, I don’t know where I’d have finished up by now. He kept saying to me, ‘Dad, you’ve got to get a grip,’ and I’d keep saying, ‘Aye, aye, I’ll dae that soon enough.’

But it finally did sink in, and I went to my doctor. He put me on Antabuse tablets and that helped. And I went to numerous A.A. meetings with a pal who was also on the drink, and I had grief counselling and that kind of thing, which was quite helpful.

Now I can honestly say I’m a social drinker only. That’s behind me. I enjoy life and I enjoy living here. You know, I read in a magazine review somewhere that Leith is the fourth best neighbourhood in the world.” 

Would you agree with that?

“Absolutely!”

Joshua, mum Sarah and Ada, The Portobello Bookshop, Portobello High Street

What books would you recommend to a friend?

Joshua  (9 yo)– “I think I’d recommend any of the Bunny versus Monkey books by Jamie Smart. I enjoyed those.”

Mum Sarah – “I’m an English teacher so reading is very important to me and to my family. But right now I'm doing a Master’s in Creative Writing so a lot of my personal reading is stuff that I have to read for the course. But I loved Benjamin Myers’ book ‘Cuddy’, which I read about a year ago. I thought that was outstanding, a really experimental mixture of prose and poetry and fact and fiction, all about Saint Cuthbert. I loved it.”

Ada (12 yo) – “Hmmm. I think I’d recommend Malorie Beckman’s series ‘Noughts and Crosses’. I really enjoyed them.”

Sam and Martha, Westside Plaza, Wester Hailes

Sam: “I’m an electrician.”

Is that something you always wanted to do?

“No, not at all. In school I’d never have thought I’d have fallen into a job where I was working with my hands. I was never interested in that at all. I fell into it. When I was seventeen, leaving school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with myself. So, I just went onto Facebook Messenger and applied to lots of different companies, looking at any trade and any job. One of them came back to me and I was lucky enough that it happened to be an electrician. I’m a qualified electrician now, I’m doing decently for myself, and when I look back I’m glad I fell into that role. I finished my apprenticeship in May this year.”

Are you still working with the company you trained with?

“Yes. But I’m trying to venture out and start advertising my own work, just so that I can eventually be in that role where I can employ my own apprentices and make a bit of money.”

What would say to somebody who’s unemployed and unsure what to do about it?

“Well, maybe take a leaf out of what I’ve done. Maybe message someone on social media and speak to people. I know some people don't maybe have people to speak to, but there are places you can go to speak to people who will try to organise you with something. Just be sociable. That’s a big aspect. It’s a hard one for some people, but once you hit it you’ll know. For me it was just messaging countless people, and hoping they’d engage.”

Were these people you knew?

“No. They were completely random people on Facebook. I was just going on lots of different pages. Sometimes I wouldn't get any messages back, or people would just say, ‘No, sorry.’ It wasn’t the first person, or the fiftieth person, but along the line it eventually did work.

One day I messaged someone on Facebook, and they got back to me and said, ‘Come for an interview.’ I was a young lad, and it was a wee bit intimidating because it was my first job interview with a random person. But you just need to pluck up that courage to speak to someone. I spoke to the manager of the company. He was really nice and we got on well. It was as simple as that.”

Martha: “You don't always get into the job that you want the very first time. I worked in a soft play, I worked in Marks and Spencer, I worked in hairdressers and things like that, and it wasn't until I was older - I think I was about 17 – when I got an apprenticeship in the bank. They were looking for experience, literally any experience that you’ve got, whether it be soft plays, or hairdressers, or supermarkets, or whatever. You just have to show that you're actually willing to work. Go out there and give it a go.

But the bank was too ‘salesy’ for me; I didn’t like having to shove products on people. I prefer a job where I’m making a difference to people, and actually helping them. And that is what I’m doing now, and it suits me perfectly. I wouldn’t change it. I work in the Women’s Justice Centre at the bottom of Leith, at the Kirkgate. We help women reintegrate into society after being in jail, having not had that human connection for so long.”

How did you meet each other?

Sam: “We met in a club in Edinburgh. Again, being sociable! We’ve discussed this ourselves and we think it’s a better way of meeting.”

Martha: “Yeah. There are so many people meeting online, messaging and using dating apps. But we met in-person. The best way, I think.”

Do most of your friends use dating apps?

Sam: “Yeah.”

Martha: “All of them actually.”

How successful do you think they are?

Sam: “Most of the time it’s not even success they’re after. I think it’s just ego to be honest. It’s not even to meet other people, it’s about pushing your own ego.”

Did you click together very quickly?

Both: “Yes!”

Sam: “I’d say we get on very well to be honest. That’s a couple of years ago now. It’ll actually be two years next February.”

What’s his best quality?

Martha: “He’s really generous.”

What’s her best quality?

Sam: “She’s very caring and kind. She’s very wholesome. I like that about her. She’s very sweet, rather than trying to show off. She’s very lovely and she’s very generous as well.”

Doreen, Sainsbury’s, Straiton Retail Park

“There have been so many changes in my lifetime. For example, I worked for many years as a bookbinder in Edinburgh, but it’s a trade you hardly even see these days.”

What hasn’t changed?

“The need for kindness. Kindness is the number one thing.

You don’t want a photo of me, do you? I’m well past that.”

You’re not. Let me take a shot and I’ll show you.

“Well, we could try.”

I was right :)

Honor, Bambi’s Coffee Box, George Square / Honor Dodd Design Studio – ‘I want to be the antithesis of that’

“Working here in the coffee box is what pays the bills right now, but I graduated from Art School in 2024 and I have a studio where I create my own silver jewellery.

The internal imagery of some of my jewellery comes from the gothic architecture that I did my degree show on. I chose a very specific window from what’s called the Church of the Annunciation in Hove, the church my parents married in. Sometimes I draw design ideas while I’m working in the coffee box, sometimes using the outline shape and posture of customers as concepts.

My ultimate goal is to have a gallery exhibition space with a workshop studio attached, so I can be creating and exhibiting in the same place. I’d like to offer the opportunity to other people of renting a space, or hot desk, to also create pieces to go in this gallery. So, yeah, to be the ultimate manager and director of that space is my ambition.

I’m working towards an official launch of Honor Dodd Design, which I'm hoping to do by June 2025. I feel that parts of the jewellery industry can be a little bit soulless. You know, there’s fast fashion, and there’s fast jewellery. I want to be the antithesis of that.”

Did you ever have doubts about investing in this studio to pursue your vision?

“Oh, yes - massive impostor syndrome! It was like, ‘What am I doing?’ I’d just graduated and I was given £2000 to go on a residency in France. What on earth had I done to deserve a residency, for starters?”

How long did it take you to work through the impostor syndrome?

“Oh, we’re still there. I don’t think that’s going to disappear anytime soon. Even just the concept of you wanting to come to speak to me about my work – that’s amazing. What have I done to deserve people wanting to talk to me about my work?! I’m still thriving on the novelty of it though. I’m really chuffed that I have the opportunity to do this, and that I can do it.”

Have you ever been tempted to give up on it?

“I don’t think so, no, because I knew one way or another, for better or worse, I was going to do it.  It’s just how long it's going to take me to get there. And I don't know where ‘there’ is; I know I’m not ‘there’ yet. I know what my ultimate end goal is, but I think there's always going to be space for that to grow and to wiggle about and all of that.

The people around me really support me in this, and I do have breathing room. I need to remind myself of that a lot of the time, but it's something that I want to do, and wanted to do for a long time.”

Brian, Princes Street – ‘it’s worth thinking about’

“I have two favourite quotes that explain my life, really. The first is, ‘Jesus is the reason for the season.’ The second is, ‘What on earth are you doing, for heaven’s sake?’ It’s worth thinking about.”

Victoria, Simpson Loan with, l-r, Alby and Juno - 'yeah, so both my dogs are minus a leg'

“Yeah, so both my dogs are minus a leg! About 15 years ago I had a three-legged cat that I took as a rescue. I just thought it was such a shame, and that no-one might adopt her. We lived in a third-floor tenement then, and I thought it was kinder to get a cat that probably shouldn’t be out anyway. Then, a few years ago we saw Alby on a Facebook page for dog adoption. I’d been wanting to get a dog, because by then I had a flat that would allow it and as soon as I saw him I thought, well, he must be the one for me! He’s from North Macedonia. I got him through a charity called Pawsome, and I got Juno through another charity called Love for Dogs. She’s from Romania. We just got Juno two months ago. She’s just a puppy. I’ve had Alby for about three years.”

How restrictive is their disability for them?

“I would say it doesn't really restrict them in any way, apart from I don't imagine they could swim! Alby spends a lot of time lying down, inside and outside, so I think it does impact him a little bit. He gets tired. He’s five, and he lost his leg when he was almost two. Juno was so young – she’s still only eight months and was under six months when she had her leg removed – that it doesn’t seem to impact her at all. She’s quite fast, and she doesn’t tire. It’s all puppy energy and useful adaptation. She really needs the exercise, but Alby doesn’t care – he’d sit at home all day if he could!”

Three sisters from Niddrie: (l-r) Zahra, Ayesha and Asra - ‘we’re living out his dream’

Ayesha: “We’re all sisters. I’m the eldest and I was born in Pakistan. These two were born in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary! Our dad was a doctor in Pakistan, but when you come here you can't just practice as a doctor. Bringing his family over here meant he couldn’t stop working to study, and he couldn't pay for all the tests and stuff. It became a case of, ‘I've got family that I still need to feed.’ He's a security guard and has been for the last 20 years. He never really had the chance to get back into what he was actually working in. So, we’re living out his dream, I guess.”

In what way?

“I'm in my final year medicine at Glasgow University; so, in my sixth year.” 

What’s been the toughest thing about doing medicine?

“I’ll say I think there’s a lot of nepotism in medicine. I obviously come from a working-class background, which is a completely different background to a lot of people who are on the same course as me. There are just different levels to it. Some have a lot more of a helping hand than others who probably had to work a little bit harder to get to the same stage, if that makes sense.  So, yeah, definitely a bit of that. But eventually you get there, so it’s fine.”

What’s been the best part?

“Genuinely, it’s been a really, really good and rewarding course. I love being in hospitals doing placements and genuinely feeling like this is making a difference. I think that is really rewarding, to be honest.”

What has been your experience of living in Niddrie?

Zahra: “Most people don’t like Niddrie, but I really like it. I go to Holyrood High School near here, and I really enjoy that too. I’d much rather be in school than sitting at home.

I want to study medicine eventually, but right now I’m out looking for a volunteering role for my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. I need to find a place to volunteer for three months. We asked at the library here and were told to come back to speak to someone.”

Do you enjoy the Duke of Edinburgh scheme?

“Yes. I’ve only been doing it for two months, but it’s really fun. I want to take it beyond Bronze level. The expedition sounds a lot of fun."

Asra: “Niddrie’s the same as every other place. You’re always going to get different types of people wherever you are. I enjoy having my friends around me, and I feel like my school is very diverse and I feel included in it. It's just very enjoyable. Everyone is friendly.”

What’s your favourite and least favourite subject?

“Biology is probably my favourite subject. My least favourite is probably chemistry. I love sport. I’d say I’m quite good at it, but I get a bit lazy too sometimes! I love basketball. I’m actually joining a basketball club after the holidays.”

Do you find Edinburgh an inclusive city, or do you face prejudice sometimes?

“Sometimes. But then also, you have people that are basically the same as you. You’re just not alone with it.”

How does being Muslim shape your lives?

Asra: “We go to our local mosque, and we try our best to go four times a week. And we try to pray our prayers five times as well and just try to be a better person.”

Ayesha: “You get to know everyone at the mosque. There are then people around you of a similar background. I’ve stopped going since I went to university, but I was brought up exactly the same as these guys. Things like learning to read like the Quran and stuff like that, those are things you can do at a younger age. Now I think I’ve got those skills, so I don't particularly need to go to Quran class and learn how to read it.”

So is your faith something that you carry now in a more personal, internal way?

“I think once you get a bit older it’s also about your interpretation of it. It is for me. I think you reach a certain point where you're your own person, your own individual, and you have your own version of that. I still fully believe in the religion, and still fully believe in God, but I might interpret it and express it differently now.”

Mark, Sports Direct, Straiton Retail Park - ‘it’s a distortion of reality’

If you could spend your life doing something without the need to earn money, what would that look like for you?

“To be fair, a perfect day for me is family life; spending time with my son, and stuff like that. The way I see things now is that money isn't everything, so my main goal would just be to have a happy family life.”

Who or what has been the biggest influence in your life?

“I'm not a big follower of celebrities. I'm not bothered what they do. It’s really been my own family, my dad my mom who have had the biggest impact on my life and on how I’m shaped as a person today. I don't care about Brad Pitt and what celebrities are doing. I’ve no interest in that. “

Are your parents still alive?

“My dad passed, but my mum is still alive. She’s working in a school as well. So I’ve still got that connection. She’s great with my son. He’s her only grandchild, so she’s over the moon about him.”

What’s the biggest challenge in life?

“To be fair, I think it’s just for people to be happy in themselves. Everybody goes around chasing for money and stuff like that, but I know people that have got a lot of money and they're just not happy, you know? When a lot of people go after success they assume that having a fancy car or having a fancy house is what they need, but success and happiness to me is having a happy family and spending time with your loved ones.

I think it’s hard for young people who spend a lot of time on social media to get that. Don’t get me wrong, there are good people you can follow who help you to work on yourself and improve yourself too. I follow a guy called Wim Hoff. But a lot of social media - it’s a distortion of reality. You can have millions of pounds and be a star, but a lot of them are miserable away from the public eye.”

Neil (cold-water swimmer), Portobello Promenade

What are the benefits of cold-water swimming? Some might consider it a form of torture!

“It’s actually quite hard to describe. It just feels good. When I’m in and when I’m out, it just feels good. On a day like today when it's amazingly sunny, you’re swimming in the sea and you can see out to East Lothian, you can see Fife, you can see everything there, and you're in it and you’re part of it. Like, you're in that enormous body of water, and it's sustaining you and it's carrying you. It's just an amazing feeling. We were born in salty water, we were conceived in salty water, so there’s something about that. It’s just amazing swimming there with oyster catchers flying about a foot over your head peeping away. It’s just lovely. Then you come out and it’s bloody freezing, but it’s only for about five minutes that it’s really quite unpleasant, then you get all warm and dry, get your hot chocolate and, yes, it’s great.

Then you get those lovely moments when you meet other people. Like this morning, someone else was getting changed beside me and we ended up going into the water together. There’s a lovely wee community here, people who just get it. It’s a lovely feeling.

Today is the first time I’ve been in the sea for 3 or 4 months, and it was quite hard to get in. I just thought, ‘This is going to be really cold,’ and I’d forgotten that actually it was going to be okay. So it helped today that the other person turned up. I was trying to get in before them, but they beat me by about a second!”

What would you say to someone who might like to give it a try but is nervous?

“Go with someone else the first time. There are groups that meet on social media that arrange to come down here on a Sunday morning. Start in the summer. Wear a wet suit if you like, or don’t – there’s no judgement about that.  And I have to say there is part of me that actually quite likes that I can talk about having done this – that I can say to other people, yeah, I was swimming! Would I do this if no one knew I was doing it? Yes, I would. But is it nice that other people know about it? Yes, it is. Like you asking me just now. I feel quite chuffed that I can say I’ve done it.”

You’re obviously a motivated person and as it’s January I’m going to ask you the cliched question about New Year resolutions. Do you make them?

“No. I don’t. It seems a bit artificial just doing it on one day of the year. I get why people do. What we do as a family is, on Hogmanay we look back over the year and talk about what's gone well. That’s a nice tradition we've done over the last couple of years. It’s a really nice way of connecting as a family because people are celebrating each other and reminding each other of good things that could otherwise be forgotten.”

John, Kirkgate Centre, Leith - ‘For the first time I was really scared of dying’

“In 2021, over a weekend, I got severe back pain. That’s not unusual in itself, but this was something different, something I hadn't felt before. It was a numbness creeping down my backside and my legs.

I went to A&E Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Five days in a row. By the Wednesday I was weeing myself. I couldn't control my urine. But the doctors weren’t examining me. As soon as they heard I was a builder they just said, ‘It’s sciatica.’ I asked, ‘Even though I’m losing urine?!’ By the Friday I was in really bad pain. They organised two porters to get me to a cab, which they did. They left me there.

So, I made a video saying, ‘I’ve just seen doctor so and so – I won’t say her name. She didn’t examine me. She just said it was sciatica, although I’m weeing myself and I’ve got numbness down my saddle area, my buttocks and my legs. My whole body doesn’t feel right. This is something bad. So, if I die, this was the last doctor I saw, and she sent me home.’ For the first time I was really scared of dying.”

Billy and Oscar the dog, Cameron Toll Centre – ‘we just take things as they come’

“I was a surveyor with the National Coal Board. I worked in five different NCB Headquarters and each one was closed down. But I found work beyond that. My wife, Margaret, and I have kept a very relaxed view of life. We’ve been married for 53 years, and we just take things as they come and don’t worry about the future and what may never happen. Time enough to worry if it does.”

Irene & Halcyon, Corstorphine Heritage Centre, Orchardfield Avenue - ‘he killed her in a drunken rage’

“Historically, Corstorphine was an agricultural village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, separated from it by lochs and marshland. There was a castle at what’s now Castle Avenue, just down the road here.  There are no remains of the Castle anymore, but you can still see the dovecot. It’s on Dovecot Avenue and you can go in and have a look.

The Caste wasn’t very big, around 100 feet square, with a moat around it. The local people took a lot of the stones to build their own little houses around it eventually.  The second Lord Forrester was involved in the murder of the ‘White Lady’, by a sycamore tree close to the dovecot. She was his mistress but, when she wanted to end their affair, he killed her in a drunken rage.

The castle was owned by the Forrester family who also began the Corstorphine Old Parish Church.”

Is the Parish Church still a functioning part of the community?

“Yes, very much so. The present minister, Moira MacDonald, was Queen’s Chaplain to Elizabeth II and is now a Chaplain to the King. She’s been here for at least 20 years. The church does a lot of community things. They serve hundreds of toasties to eager Craigmount High School pupils on Thursdays and there youth groups use the church as well; we’ve had Scouts here since 1907. Incidentally, if you look at the end wall of the church facing the old castle direction, there's a light that's still on every evening. It was there originally to guide people across the marshes towards Corstorphine towards safety. There’s a lot of history here!”