J Thomson Collection
Highland Photographic Archive, High Life Highland
In keeping with the season, this is a selection of snowy scenes from the Inverness Museum photographic collections and the Highland Photographic Archive. Some of these have only recently been digitised and are on public display for the first time. These nostalgic images of bygone days have been taken from a variety of sources, including the Gordon Shennan, Joseph Cook, Jimmy Nairn and Jimmy Thomson Collections.
Gordon Shennan was an RSSPCC Inspector in the Highlands and Islands from the 1920s to the 1960s. He was also an amateur photographer. During his working life he travelled extensively throughout the region, photographing the people and places he visited, and creating an incredible social record.
Joseph Cook, a local philanthropist, had a keen interest in the history of Inverness and surrounding area. Cook collected many photographs, prints and postcards that he used for slide shows and talks throughout the Highlands. The images in the Cook Collection date from the 1880s to the 1960s, and provide a fascinating insight into Inverness’s townscape from more than a century ago.
While Jimmy Nairn was a prolific photographer around the Inverness area in the 1950s, Jimmy Thomson was a freelance press photographer and local councillor. Thomson’s photographs date from the 1980s and 1990s. Both these collections are popular because the people and places featured can be recalled in living memory.
For more information about the photographic archives click here, call Andrea Finlayson on 01349 781741 or email:
[email protected]
