When photographing the tower at Fairburn it would be so easy to take a good photo on a sunny day and use it to create a narrative of the Highlands and Scotland with a mind to sell 'ancient Scotland' to tourists. On a post card the tower would appeal to those, such as Americans, who have few such grand houses of their own. Yet this 'heritage' feature is still in use and sits in a landscape lacking in the grandeur that a selective photo would present. To the front of the tower lies a lean-to shed with corrugated roofing. To the side lies a silo and plastic coated haybales. On the left is a rented cottage and the entire place is covered in waist high nettles. Indeed part of the wall that originally surrounded the home is used for a cottage garden to grow soft fruit for personal use.
With close cropping or selective angle we could easily give a far different impression of a broody ruin or grand facade and never hint at the continued usefulness of the site. That is, of course, what appeals in tourism but the truth of the building can appeal on many other levels.
Finally, this building is interesting from a sociological viewpoint as it was the main dwelling on this particular estate (I am led to believe) yet it is ruined and derelict like the others I have photographed. Indeed they may have become so for different reasons but the outcome remains the same. Grand or humble, time and human neglect leads all things to the same conclusion.
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