A powerful new exhibition exploring the stark contrast between life in harbour and out on the open sea is now on show at the Scottish Maritime Museum (Denny Tank) in Dumbarton.
Harbour and Horizon brings together artworks, historical photographs and artefacts from the last two centuries held in the Scottish Maritime Museum’s nationally recognised collections to explore the lived experiences of sailors and their families.
Scotland’s harbours and ports have long inspired artists drawn by their bustling activity, shifting light and atmosphere and evocation of trade and travel.
Exhibition artworks depict the safe haven at home, from the industrial energy of the River Clyde to the beauty of fishing harbours, often portrayed as idyllic communities.
The exhibition then reveals the dangers at sea beyond the harbour walls most strikingly through a series of photographs taken in 1909 by amateur photographer and sailor William Sinclair.
Born in Stevenston in the late nineteenth century, Sinclair served his apprenticeship with Thomas Law & Co of Glasgow, sailing twice around the world aboard full-rigged ships.
His photographs document the relentless hardships of early twentieth-century seafaring - from being becalmed in the Doldrums to battling in the Roaring Forties as well as the perilous passage around Cape Horn - one of the world’s most dangerous sea routes.
Together with ship logs and diaries from the collection, his photographs offer an unfiltered glimpse into life at sea.
The Harbour and Horizon exhibition is included in Museum Admission.
Image: Tom Mabon, ‘Avoch Harbour’, 1933
Zone Scotland