The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
MY LIFE IN FOCUS
Michael Alexander speaks to award-winning Dundee photographer Shahbaz Majeed who is giving talks to the Perth-based Royal Scottish Geographical Society about his inspiring work
Shahbaz Majeed is a familiar face to viewers of BBC Landward. The award-winning Dundee-based landscape and aerial photographer has been taking viewers on a journey along the River Tay. In December, however, the 41-year-old is looking forward to a series of face-to-face talks he’ll be giving as part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People talk series.
He’ll be making an appearance in Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Glasgow and Edinburgh from December 5 to 8.
Shahbaz told The Courier: “I’m really honoured to have been asked to be a speaker for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society this year for their Inspiring People series of talks alongside such an amazing line-up.
“Face-to-face talks are returning after a break of two and a half years and they have become widely regarded as the best national talks programme in Scotland with events taking place all over Scotland and with such a variety of speakers.”
Shahbaz will give an insight into how he captures images of a place that is already so well photographed as Scotland.
His images have been displayed all over the world, including on the £5 polymer banknote for the Clydesdale Bank and the £20 note for the Bank of Scotland.
From well-known locations to magical spots that have to be sought out, he’ll present a wide selection of images while sharing some of the memorable tales behind his work.
He’ll talk about his journey to date and how photography can be a powerful tool to make an emotional connection with people.
The Courier told previously how Shahbaz’s images of the Forth Bridge featured on the banknotes.
However, when he discovered that the McManus in Dundee was featuring his
banknotes in a new exhibit on Dundee and local contributions, he admits it was a “bit of a shock”.
“I mean how often do you get a call to say you are going to be featured in the museum that you went to as a kid and that you take your own children to during the holidays?” laughs the Dundee-born former pupil of Glebelands Primary and Morgan Academy, who studied computing at Dundee University before getting into photography.
“Then fast forward to the exhibit being unveiled with so many lovely features including Ellie Diamond’s costume and items from other local creatives such as Whimsical Lush to name but a few.
“I didn’t get a chance to see it when it was unveiled but I saw it later. To say I am extremely proud would be an understatement.”
Shahbaz has built up a reputation for his drone work, and he reveals this has also “racked up” in the last few years with his aerial images of Dundee and wider Scotland in great demand.
The Courier also told previously how he’s also enjoyed “giving back to the community” through his work.
Having spent a lot of time in hospitals when one of his daughters had health issues as a youngster, he was delighted to donate pictures to the refurbished Ward 32 Oncology unit at Ninewells Hospital a few years ago “to improve the area”.
The feedback from people has been very positive.
“For the last year or so, there’s been a huge rise in visitors to my social media page from people trying to gain some background into the images at the hospital, and to find out more about them,” he says.
“It’s not something that’s easy to talk about, given the reason people are in that ward,
but it’s something I am extremely proud of, and I really enjoyed meeting the staff and the patients who were there right after the refurbishment.”
Shahbaz’s books on Scotland are also still very popular. He loves hearing about where they end up around the world and also about how people are using the books as a tick list/ guide for when they visit Scotland.
For information on the RSGS talks including those by Shahbaz Majeed go to https://www.rsgs.org/ blog/rsgs-inspiring-people-talks-2022-23