ED SMITH
ON THE ISLES
«‘On The Isles’ began as a concept after I’d become very interested in the current perception of the word ‘community’. I’d known of the Small Isles for a long time as a place that intrigued me… I wanted to understand the values of this lifestyle in 21st century Britain».
«It was in March 2010 that I turned up on the very small Isle of Muck, not quite sure what to expect but clear in my intention to comprehend the lifestyle. I knew I’d be very lucky to start photographing immediately, and within the first day on Muck, it was clear that any documentary of such a community was going to take time. Leaving my camera behind and getting to know residents through showing respect for the very secluded and private communities was crucial».
«I got to know a man called John Morris who allowed me to photograph his day to day life. This was the start of the work, which can be seen in my project ‘13 Miles Closer To The Edge Of The World’. It was very much a case of the project starting with one person, then growing as I got to know people… showing respect and intrigue beyond a want to photograph the communities was crucial, and in my numerous visits to each of the Small Isles via ferry, more and more people realized that I had a long term commitment and started to treat me like a local which was great. Although focused on the communities, the landscape plays a large role through its imposing presence and influence on daily routines around the isles. It takes a while to get used to being cut off and isolated, this regularly occupied my thoughts when looking for images, as I spent a lot of time walking the islands to get a perspective of each community. Capturing the geographical effect and impact on the island residents was immensely important, as it is one of the defining factors that preserves these communities, which were recently described as one of Britain’s last refuges».
© All copyright remains with photographer Ed Smith
Famous Person that never Existed.
In 1927, someone in the admissions office at Georgia Tech accidentally sent student Ed Smith two registration forms instead of one. Feeling mischievous, Smith filled out one form for himself and the other for George P. Burdell, a student he completely made up. When Smith arrived at school, he kept “George” alive by enrolling “George” in all of his classes. Ed even did all the assigned work for “George” and signed it under his name! “George” actually did so well he eventually graduated, but when other students found out about the hoax, instead of stopping it they kept him alive. According to “George’s” resume:
“George Burdell flew 12 missions over Europe during World War II, and served on MAD magazine’s Board of Directors from 1969 to 1981. In 2001, when Burdell was supposedly 90 years old, he nearly became Time magazine’s Person of the Year after garnering 57 percent of online votes.”
Georgia Tech, of course, knows about this whole plot and considers it their most celebrated joke. You can keep in touch with “George” on his Facebook page, which boasts more than 4,000 friends.
