My personal blog as a 'grown-up' Goth and Romantic living in the Highlands of Scotland. I write about the places I go, the things I see and my thoughts on life as a Goth and the subculture, and things in the broader realm of the Gothic and darkly Romantic. Sometimes I write about music I like and sometimes I review things. This blog often includes architectural photography, graveyards and other images from the darker side of life.

Goth is not just about imitating each other, it is a creative movement and subculture that grew out of post-punk and is based on seeing beauty in the dark places of the world, the expression of that in Goth rock. It looks back to the various ways throughout history in which people have confronted and explored the macabre, the dark and the taboo, and as such I'm going to post about more than the just the standards of the subculture (Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, et al) and look at things by people who might not consider themselves anything to do with the subculture, but have eyes for the dark places. The Gothic should not be limited by what is already within it; inspiration comes from all places, the key is to look with open eyes, listen carefully and think with an open mind..

Friday 14 October 2016

Dark Towers, Clouded Skies - Photographic Friday


Another Friday, another set of photographs. These are from the same day as the previous set, but of a different building. This is the Palace Hotel, and it is also on Ness Walk. It's got two big turrets on the front - a continuation of the bay windows and dormer windows into two 'towers'. It looks very grand, and the frontage is quite a mix of styles. It's a mixture of French chateaux details, Scottish Baronial and eclectic ornaments. The front has an arch over a balcony. 



As with all my architectural photography now, these are on my Tumblr account ::Architecturally Gothic:: - I also post up pictures there that I don't post here (otherwise my blog would include far too many buildings!) and I talk more about the architectural historical aspects of what I photograph. I also reblog photographers with similar architectural interests to me (and often a similar black-and-white dramatic style, just a lot better than mine!).  If you like that sort of thing, I suggest you follow my Tumblr. I'm studying architectural technology at university, and so a lot of my photography is related to that, plus historical architecture is something of a passion of mine, so my Tumblr updates more than my main blog. 


All of these photographs are for my college project, and are an attempt to capture the architectural character of the city centre and riverside area in pictures. I feel that Inverness is an underrated city, and this is partly because of a lot of mid 20thC developments that demolished lots of the old city and marred the overall character of the city - my project is a theoretical plan to address some of that. It's all academic, literally, and will never see fruition, but I like this project as an opportunity to show something of my vision in general, and my love for the city. Everyone in the class got the same brief and location, and I love this project. 


This last photograph was deliberately edited to be gloomy and dark. I quite like giving images that sense - I guess it reflects my general imagination, which is full of Gothic tales of the supernatural. The photographs I upload to ::Architecturally Gothic:: are not the only photographs of the city I took - there's quite a few full-colour images that a look a lot more bright and cheery, they just wouldn't be very suitable for either blog as both of which are about a certain Gothic atmosphere. My project booklet is a lot brighter than my blog; that wouldn't be suitable for the brief, or the nature of the project - Inverness has lots of stunning architecture that lends itself to spooky photographs, but it's not really a spooky city - it's one full of Victorian medieval-revivalism and red and yellow sandstone. 


2 comments:

  1. I really hope that there are people or organizations in the Inverness area that are interested in preservation. It would be a shame to see all of that history and architectural beauty disappear.

    I do like the gloomy atmosphere you created for the final photo here. Sometimes black and white works better in conveying that ambience than color photos.

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    Replies
    1. Inverness has a preservations society now, and the entire 'Old Town' area is now a conservation area - I think the city has learned from the mistakes of the mid 20thC redevelopments.

      If you like my architectural photography, keep an eye on my Tumblr 'Architecturally Gothic'

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