VISUAL JOURNEY OF REAL LIVES

The Eighties – a decade of cultural, technical and political upheaval – has been endlessly analysed by social historians: but never has this pivotal period been viewed from the perspective of a remote Scottish schoolroom and the children it sent out into the world.

In a departure from his series of high-profile solo shows, presenting a parade of prominent people, Donald Maclellan rediscovered his classroom roots to construct this visual journal of real lives.

Maclellan’s quest centres around the classmates with whom he spent his formative school days (197983) in the Lochaber port village of Mallaig, located at a northern tip of the West Highland railway line. The project depicts them at work in jobs ranging from train driver to able seaman, fisherman, shepherdess and teacher.

“This project is about ordinary people and their place in the world. My belief is that everyone can identify with the experiences of rubbing shoulders with children at school. Those relationships and life lessons affect the rest of our lives, yet we each pursue such diverse paths and destinies.

“I feel a protective and proud responsibility with this photographic record.” Accompanying each portrait are the subjects’ answers to questions that Maclellan has posed about their early hopes and career choices. These personal stories offer a fascinating cross-section of contemporary life in Scotland and beyond.