Culture

When asked about my own personal response to Scottish Culture I imminently thought of the landscape. Scotland is full of mountains, corries, valleys and such like forms due to glaciations. Scotland’s landscape is never anything like how it is perceived until you have actually been there and witnessed it for yourself. Its beauty is hidden beneath OS maps, a system designed to show a place in its mathematical form so we can create a visual reference before we actually experience it.

My interest in maps sparked when I took part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, an award given upon taking part in expeditions, skill and voluntary work. As a group we would use OS maps to plan journeys all over Scotland where we would camp and walk for up to three nights. All the planning was done through these mathematical grids and compass work to give a highly accurate plan of the expected journey.

In my object I would like to capture how these lines and grid structures can make us perceive how the landscape will be in contrast to actually how it is being there but also how we rely heavily on these invisible structures. I have many photographs of my expeditions which show the stark difference in Scotland’s landscape to any other.