Edinburgh (above and below)

Television journalist David Cowan has recently seen his creative hobby develop into a popular sideline. Scotland in Detail is a series of montages of Scottish cities and towns focusing on small, often unnoticed elements. ‘They say the devil’s in the detail,’ says David, ‘and he may well be hiding somewhere in these photomontages. Many of the images are decades old; names of long-forgotten landlords, chimney sweeps, hat makers and music teachers. Some are more recent – neon advertising, pub signs, shop windows and fly-posters.’

‘I spend hours wandering around places,’ David continues, ‘taking hundreds of photographs of anything and everything. The best of the pictures go into the montages. It’s amazing what you see when you go somewhere like Glasgow, walk slowly and look up. I have a great time stumbling across places I didn’t know like the harbours at Dysart and Dunbar.’

Dundee

‘I sell A2 versions of the montages through the website, but I’ve also been making smaller versions for shops and galleries. People seem to enjoy working out where everything is, but I also like sticking in odd things, like a sign on a shop window in Dundee which just said ‘Hamsters £5′ .’

Glasgow in black and white

David is modest about the aesthetic value of the montages: ‘I wouldn’t pretend that it’s artistic, but it’s a slightly different way of portraying somewhere, and people like pictures which show where they’re from. The plan is to cover as much as Scotland as possible, full time job and family permitting!’

East Neuk 

 Kirkcaldy

Vintage Signs

The montages are £50 each and are available to order from scotlandindetail.com.