ACTIVISM RECOGNITION
Following on from my trip to the Scottish Highlands, I visited a historical site, The Battle of Glenshiel. There is very little to delineate it’s geographical importance. A sign with a symbol, a small Cairn, an information board. I would have driven past, I pulled over in a layby interested by a nearby waterfall. There is no gift shop, or obvious signage, just a bin and a gravel path.
The battle was fought on June 10, 1719, and was a decisive victory for British government forces against Jacobite rebels and their Spanish allies, effectively ending the Jacobite Rising of 1719. What is immediately apparent on arriving is the graffiti, the defacement of the site (Castelow) . It is a lonely location, the defacement; stenciled messages of “White lives matter”, with subsequent visitors trying to erase the word “white”. Stickers have been placed on the brown travel signs, indicating that visitors have arrived, made a mark, and left, but I found I was contemplating their motives, what drew them to the layby, the historic relevance or a convenient stopping place in an isolated landscape?
I took a number of images, with the intention of experimenting with context; words, and the layering of timelines; the battle versus the passing traffic and the extreme views of those visitors. I found the nature of the site of a bloody battle also being used as a location to express anger and psychological signatures an interesting juxtaposition.
My interest in activism art sits alongside my methodologies. Photography is my soapbox, and sits behind my motive to make images. Whilst researching the battle, I endeavour to look at other photographers who focus on activism. Paul Hafleet’s Pansy Project (2023), which engages on many levels; reframing geographical locations, and employing incongruous obects with specified meanings. His use of context, the titles to interpret the images
Hymn to the Victory in Scotland (excerpt)
“Yet when the battle it was done,
There was not found so much as one
Nor none can tell which way they're gone.” (unknown:1719)
REFERENCES
CASTELOW, E. ‘The Battle of Glen Shiel’. Historic UK [online]. Available at: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Battle-of-Glen-Shiel [Accessed at 8 June 2024]
HARFLEET, P. 2023. The Pansy Project [online]. Available at: https://thepansyproject.com/. [Accessed at: 8 June 2024]
CHRSOUCHON. 2022. ‘Victory’. chrsouchon [online]. Available at: http://chrsouchon.free.fr/victory.htm [Accessed at 8 June 2024]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hundertmark, C. (2006) The art of rebellion. bd. 2, World of Urban Art Activism. Aschaffenburg: Publikat-Verl.