In pictures: The fighting spirit and humanity of Edinburgh’s Muirhouse
When photographer Paul Duke visited Muirhouse to capture life on the housing scheme, one of Scotland’s most deprived areas, he was returning to the place he grew up
Tell us about your photography project, No Ruined Stone. How did it come about?
The photographs of the people and townscape that make up the series No Ruined Stone are drawn from personal experience – I grew up here. In 2015, I started to make a social documentary project in Muirhouse housing scheme in Edinburgh. The area is one of the most deprived in Scotland and has been dogged with chronic unemployment and challenging social issues since the 1980s. With more of our disadvantaged communities becoming fragmented and feeling disenfranchised in our present political climate, it felt timely for me to reconnect with my roots to tell, what I believed, was a compelling and necessary story. In 2016, I won the Royal Scottish Academy Morton Award, an annual prize to support a photographic artist to complete a new body of work.
What do you think the project tells us about modern day Scotland?
Over the two-year period making the project in Muirhouse, I engaged in conversation with residents and community leaders alike and heard many tough stories first hand – it is fair to say that these personal accounts helped shape the resultant narrative. What the project tells us is that we still have unacceptable social injustice and poverty in our society. I hope the photographs encourage awareness and remind us of this inequity; but the underlying message is about humanity and the fighting spirit, dignity and hope of the residents living there today.
How did you decide on your subjects? Their images don’t carry captions – did you want to protect the identities of those you photographed?
The architectural and landscape photographs were considered and made over a relatively long period of time. The portraits on the other hand were done in a much more ad hoc manner – the very nature of street photography. During the two years, I photographed many subjects, but it was only at the editing stage where I decided which portraits to use as part of the sequence. I chose residents that I felt were representative of Muirhouse, therefore revealing individual identity or using captions was not my main consideration – the emphasis was on the visual narrative and allowing the viewer the chance to interpret. I did however seek a balance of gender, age and ethnicity.
You were brought up in Muirhouse – do you think it has changed in the years since you’ve been away?
Yes and no. In terms of the physical change this has been considerable. The house where I lived has been demolished and even the street is no longer there – vast chunks of the old
“The house where I lived has been demolished and even the street is no longer there”
scheme have disappeared and new housing or brown site has replaced it. Unfortunately, there has been no marked change regarding some of the more complex social problems that persisted in the area back in my day – they are still prevalent. Despite this, the sense of community is still strong and there are a number of key dynamic activists who will ensure that Muirhouse residents continue to have a
voice through future change.
Where can people see your images?
The photographs are currently on show at St Andrews Photography Festival (standrewsphotographyfestival.com) which runs until 28 October. Copies of the book No Ruined Stone can be purchased from www. hartmannprojects.com or www.beyondwords.co.uk
What’s next for you?
I am in the early stages of developing a new project, again based in Scotland. This series of images will strive to survey and capture the notion of diaspora and diversity up and down the land as the political and social landscape shifts across Europe. The project will form the third and final part of a trilogy of works exploring social issues in modern day Scotland.