A Day At The Gallery

Something we don't often do when we visit Edinburgh is to go down into the city centre but today we had a good reason. My best school friend was also in Edinburgh visiting her daughter.

We wondered where to meet up for a good chat and she came up with the idea of the National Portrait Gallery as she had been there earlier in the week to see the BP Portrait Award exhibition. We sat in the café and talked a lot over coffee and lunch.

Katkatkat, Jerra and I looked around the exhibition, I rather liked the one of Bob Geldof.

My friend also drew my attention to Bailey's Stardust exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery thought to be "The biggest exhibition of his work to date". The Man and Kat went to the café while I studied the work of a man said to be one of the world's greatest photographers.

Some of Bailey's work I find too dark. The one's I liked the best were, by coincidence, both of David Bowie:, one with French Actress and Bailey's ex-wife, Catherine Deneuve, and one with American Actress, Susan Sarandon.

I really loved the softness of the first of those images and the liveliness in the second. I came away feeling inspired to convert portraits to mono and use our white background more, rather than the black one which I have favoured.

I found David Bailey and I have something in common, apart from owning cameras and taking photos - we have the same birthday.