Close Encounters was a collaboration between Aberdeen’s SMART Art Agency, photographer Steve Smith, writer and researcher Ian Grosz, and artist & filmmaker Callum Kellie.
It aimed to celebrate, record, and reveal the historic and contemporary stories that make up Aberdeen’s Castlegate and what constitutes its unique sense of place in the east end of Aberdeen City Centre. Whilst also attempting to capture the social history of the area at a time when the city is on the cusp of change.
The project was funded by Aberdeen City Council and was part of wider a pilot for a broader Heritage and Place project through a grant awarded by Historic Environment Scotland.
The project consisted of three main elements:
- 1. Photography of People & Place
- 2. Oral Histories that gather the Stories of Place
- 3. An Interactive Digital Platform
Beginnings
The project began with contemporary documentary and portrait photography by photographer and NESCOL lecturer Steve Smith to explore and highlight the area’s rich community, culture, and heritage. This was continued alongside a series of community-based workshops led by creative writer and researcher Ian Grosz. In these sessions participants were encouraged to create ‘memory maps’ of their locales, and to share their memories and experiences in open dialogue within a group setting. Some of the workshop participants also took part in audio recorded personal story-gathering sessions; a sample of which was included on the Close Encounters website.
The final outputs of the research phase were presented in an exhibition produced by SMART Art, opened at Aberdeen Arts Centre in June 2024, alongside an online interactive platform and digital map developed by artist and filmmaker Callum Kellie.
Digital Map
Users of the site were able to explore the Castlegate by entering a digital space where the community stories, histories, and images are revealed. We hoped for to be a tool that could be used by both residents and wider visitors to explore Aberdeen’s rich heritage.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following organisations & people:
Aberdeen City Council for commissioning the project.
Amy Liptrott for hosting an early workshop and the final project exhibition at Aberdeen Arts Centre.
All at Peacock & The Worm for their openness, particularly Jon Reid and Neil Corall for their co-operation and permission in accessing their photographic archive and Rosemary Baxter’s wonderful and sadly rare book Peacock Looks Back (1997): a vital and fascinating source of local history.
Rev. Isaac Poobalan, who welcomed us into the St. Andrew’s community and enthusiastically embraced the project, helping to facilitate a workshop and focus group, and always being willing to engage with both photography and oral history.
The volunteers and staff at Aberdeen’s historic Citadel, likewise, for welcoming us into their Community Hub, and for their delicious soup. We’d like to particularly thank Major Peter Renshaw for his willingness to help with the project, Margaret Ross for her inexhaustive historical knowledge and for facilitating the workshop, portraits and interviews, and Wande Yoloye for his openness, passion and positivity.
Finally, we’d like to thank all those who took part and were willing to feature in this project, for being open and vulnerable enough to share their stories and be seen.