Time on the Outer Hebrides has stood still.

What once were homes on islands off the west coast of Scotland are now miniature museums; abandoned crofts slowly decaying as wallpaper slides from the walls, paint flakes away and picture frames gather with dust.

But these hidden houses have been rediscovered by photographer and former Buzzcocks drummer John Maher.

A resident of Harris for the past 14 years, his intrepidness has been transformed into Nobody’s Home, an exhibition of digital and film photography which explores six years of abandonment on the Outer Hebrides, currently on display at Glasgow’s The Lighthouse gallery.

Rust in Peace John Maher/Architecture and Design Scotland

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John used to take pictures of the Outer Hebrides when he first started visiting in the 90s, but when he moved to the Isle of Harris in 2002, his film camera lay untouched in its box for seven years.

“I didn’t feel the need to take a picture of [Harris], if I did I’d be making an inferior version of something you’d see on a postcard,” he says.

But in 2009, having watched a television series about long exposure photography highlighting derelict items by the roadside in America, John became enthused about the technique which makes use of the light of a full moon to create stunning images.

Tin and Stone John Maher/Architecture and Design Scotland

He replaced his film camera with a new DSLR, taught himself about exposures and lighting and just began shooting.

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“I went out, waited for the full moon to turn up and was out round about in the Isle of Harris photographing some of the decaying stuff that we’ve got lying around here,” he says.

“I got absolutely and utterly obsessed with it, just worked and worked and worked at it until I got a good understanding of how to influence the way the picture came out.”

Blue Chair John Maher/Architecture and Design Scotland

John admits he is something of an autodidact, self-taught in every way possible. His drumming career with the Buzzcocks began after teaching himself to play, his interest in revamping Volkswagens is a solo pursuit and a recent foray back into film photography using a vintage camera are all skills honed on his own.

“I think I just came to the conclusion that if there is something I do get really interested in, I will just get that obsessed that I’ll just dive in and learn as much as I can,” he says.

Shooting abandoned crofts has been a labour of love, constricting his sessions to just a couple of days either side of a full moon to shoot the abandoned buildings.

John says he considers a full night of shooting long exposures successful if he comes away with one or two useable shots.

No Job too Small John Maher/Architecture and Design Scotland

He even muses that in one year, he only managed to get out to shoot his moonlit photographs six times.

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But it was venturing inside an abandoned croft with the intention of lighting it from inside to create a new effect which saw the 56-year-old explore the interior of abandoned island homes for the first time.

“I noticed there was all these personal belongings left behind, little picture frames with stuff in and stuff on the mantlepiece so I went back the following day in daylight conditions to go out and photograph it.

Green Room John Maher/Architecture and Design Scotland

“Some of the houses it looked like people have been sitting down eating a meal, then they’ve got up and just gone, there is that much stuff left behind.”

Suddenly John’s body of photographic work increased dramatically, a mixture of long exposures of buildings and intricate interior shots of abandoned chairs, peeling wallpaper and even the skeleton of a sheep.

It formed the basis for the first exhibition of Nobody’s Home in 2013 on the island, which has since travelled across the UK before arriving in Glasgow in July.

Running as part of Architecture and Design Scotland’s Say Hello to Architecture Programme, the exhibition will be on display at the art gallery until August 31.

Waiting Room John Maher/Architecture and Design Scotland

John’s favourite of the exhibition is Waiting Room, shot on film at a croft not too far from his home. The paint from the turquoise door is peeling from age as is the obscure wood-effect wallpaper, which curiously reveals the original wooden panelling it is hiding.

“Obviously wallpaper became fashionable on the island probably in the mid 60s, and I just love the idea that they covered up real wooden panelling with wood-effect wallpaper,” John says.

“But there is something about the image that I think it is something only time can achieve.”