Test of time: Photographer cleverly superimposes vintage black-and-white holiday snaps of his childhood trips to the beach on their modern-day settings
- Jim Downie created fascinating visuals by using pictures of him as a boy on coastal images of Kinghorn, Fife
- His family would make the trip from their home Edinburgh in the summer for a two-week holiday to the beach
- Mr Downie’s collection features people climbing across the beach’s rocks and eating ice cream in deck chairs
- Other snaps show family members traipsing into the town, smiling in front of a central square and playing golf
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As summer edges closer and the coronavirus lockdown continues, many Britons will be dreaming of the sunny days spent by the sea they had in previous years.
And one Scotsman has taken black-and-white photographs his mother captured when he was a child and superimposed them on their modern-day setting.
Jim Downie created fascinating visuals by placing pictures of him as a boy on coastal landscapes of Kinghorn in Fife.
Jim Downie created fascinating visuals by placing pictures of him as a boy on coastal landscapes of Kinghorn in Fife (pictured)
Mr Downie’s stunning collection features youngsters climbing across the beach’s rocks, eating ice cream in a deck chair and playing tug of war on the sand (pictured)
Other snaps show family members traipsing into the town, smiling in front of a central square as well as celebrating after a round of golf
The family would make the hour-long trip from Edinburgh in the summer with his siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles for a two-week holiday during the ‘Trades Fortnight’ – two weeks a year tradesmen get off
Mr Downie’s stunning collection features youngsters climbing across the beach’s rocks, eating ice cream in a deck chair and playing tug of war on the sand.
Other snaps show family members traipsing into the town, smiling in front of a central square as well as celebrating after a round of golf.
The family would make the hour-long trip from Edinburgh in the summer with his siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles for a two-week holiday during the ‘Trades Fortnight’ – two weeks a year tradesmen get off.
Mr Downie, who was the creative director at an agency in Scotland until he retired in 2004, would sometimes spend up to a month there while his father stayed home working as a painter.
Mr Downie, who was the creative director at an agency in Scotland until he retired in 2004, would sometimes spend up to a month there while his father stayed home working as a painter
After his mother died five years ago, he inherited her Box Brownie snaps, scanned them on to a computer and returned to Kinghorn to spread her ashes
It was when he spread his mother’s ashes that Mr Downie came up with the idea of a ‘biography in time’, where he would place the black-and-white shots over colour images from the present day
He made his move in the nick of time – before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed on the UK from March 23 – and returned to the coast to get his modern-day photographs. Pictured: After a game of golf
After his mother died five years ago, he inherited her Box Brownie snaps, scanned them on to a computer and returned to Kinghorn to spread her ashes.
It was then that Mr Downie came up with the idea of a ‘biography in time’, where he would place the black-and-white shots over colour images from the present day.
He made his move in the nick of time – before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed on the UK from March 23 – and returned to the coast to get his modern-day photographs.
Mr Downie said: ‘I summoned up enough guts to drive over to Kinghorn and take those photographs of the paces we’d been and then come back and work on it because I thought I am going to be stuck in the house I might as well have something to do. It was as simple as that’
The Edinburgh College of Art graduate has seen an incredible reaction to his collages, with galleries across the country lining up to display his work
There has also been huge traction on social media, with one fan saying: ‘These pictures by Jim Downie are very cool’
Mr Downie is reportedly planning to compile the photographs (pictured) into one book which will also include his other work
He told Flashback: ‘I summoned up enough guts to drive over to Kinghorn and take those photographs of the paces we’d been and then come back and work on it because I thought I am going to be stuck in the house I might as well have something to do. It was as simple as that.’
The Edinburgh College of Art graduate has seen an incredible reaction to his collages, with galleries across the country lining up to display his work.
There has also been huge traction on social media, with one fan saying: ‘These pictures by Jim Downie are very cool.’
Mr Downie is reportedly planning to compile the photographs into one book which will also include his other work.