A young photographer from Inverness has been working with Highland Folk Museum to produce images for online tours of historic buildings.
Murron Ferguson, 21, produced a series of black and white film photographs for the project which are included in the digital tours, and are also viewable on the High Life Highland Am Baile website.
Murron’s mum Christyna Ferguson said: “Murron has autism and has faced difficulty for the whole of her young life.
“Working with the Highland Folk Museum was a wonderful yet very challenging opportunity for Murron but with the support of the museum staff, and Murron herself showing great bravery, she was enabled to produce this body of work.
“Sincerest thanks to the folk museum for their support and understanding throughout this project. It is testament to what can be achieved with a wee bit of allowance and community spirit.”
As a fan of traditional photography, Murron used a black and white 35mm film camera to take the shots.
She first began photography in 2017 initially in digital photography but quickly moved to old-school black and white film, utilising the darkroom at Wasps Artists’ Studios at Inverness Creative Academy.
Project Officer Helen Pickles said: “When Murron and her mother Christyna approached us to see if there were any opportunities to work with the museum, I jumped at the chance to involve them in the project.
“Murron is a very talented photographer and it was lovely to get to know her over the course of the past year. She’s created a wonderful body of work which we’re proud to show off to visitors far and wide.
“The black and white images of the buildings give a sense that they could have been taken years ago, using the traditional photography process that is little changed from when it was invented, though the images are thoroughly modern too and include some of the social distancing signs that have been necessary through the pandemic.
“It was a joy to look through the stunning photographs taken by Murron, and together we selected the final six to be uploaded onto the website.”
Five digital tours of historic buildings at the Highland Folk Museum are now available to view online at www.highlandfolk.com/explore
The five locations that are available to explore online are the Blackhouse, Knockbain School, Boleskine Shinty Pavilion, the Travellers’ Summer Encampment, and Lochanhully House – Murron has produced a photograph for each to showcase the historic buildings for an online audience.
In addition to images of the buildings, Murron also captured an image of Costumed Interpreter Marion Smart at the spinning wheel, outside the Blackhouse.
‘Spinning’ by Murron Ferguson
Murron said: “Photographing Marion in action was my favourite part of the project, she is keeping alive old traditions and does it with true Scottish resolve.
“Working with the folk museum was good work experience and I met lots of good people – Helen is awesome. I saw lots of interesting things and it was good to be part of promoting an important Highland landmark and helping teach about Highland history.”
Murron’s collection of photographs is now hosted on High Life Highland’s Am Baile website https://www.ambaile.org.uk/groupitem/457
The photographs will also be available to view in the Highland Folk Museum café. The museum will be open to visitors from April 1.
The digital tours will allow buildings to be explored in periods of time when buildings cannot open, which occasionally happens during the open season.
The Hebridean Blackhouse will be closed to visitors until later in the season, as the roof is being rethatched. This vital maintenance work takes place every few years, as the traditional thatching materials degrade over time.
Although visitors will not be able to physically step inside the building, with the new online tour of the Blackhouse, there’s no reason to miss out on experiencing the Blackhouse virtually.
