Craft, Tradition & Atmosphere

A photo essay by Tom Stark

Images, Tom Stark.
Words, Colin Baillie.

Auchindrain is a well preserved historic township in Argyll, Scotland, which is run as a ‘living’ museum. It was inhabited up to the 1930s.

Craft, Tradition & Atmosphere

There’s a rare authenticity in Auchindrain. It’s a museum of sorts, but it’s not curated, collected or polished. There’s no ‘interpretation’ or signage. The objects, interior spaces, the buildings themselves, as well as the surrounding landscape, are all part of the exhibit. This lends it an immersive quality, which is quite transportive.

The buildings and everything in them were made by hand, following traditional techniques, and using materials that were to hand. Local, and low impact. Life would have been hard here of course, but there is something beautiful and surprisingly liveable about the houses. There’s an atmosphere of calmness and simplicity, and a richness that comes with the legibility of craftsmanship.