Remote Scottish Postboxes

‘Anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting Scotland will attest to the fact that the temperamental northern climate can be a real challenge. It’s one that photographer Martin Parr and his wife Susie took on with aplomb when they regularly holidayed in Shetland, Barra, Lewis, Islay and the islands of Orkney between 2004 and 2010. Their travels there are now recorded for posterity in Remote Scottish Postboxes, a documentation of the tomato-red structures that permeated the couple’s muted surroundings.

‘When you are in the middle of nowhere, in a bleak landscape and in wild weather, these little postboxes are strangely comforting,” Susie Parr explains in the book’s introduction. “They are a strong symbol of our cultural heritage; a sign that other people are around, that life is going on, and that you are connected to the world.” The result of their collaboration – in keeping with her husband’s signature whimsy – is a perfect antidote for the Monday blues, when one might be feeling just as gloomy as the drizzly vistas of the Scottish isles.’

_{* Except from ‘Martin Parr Presents an Index of Scotland’s Red Postboxes’, AnOther Magazine}

‘I was aware that making a book out of my series of remote Scottish postboxes was going to be a challenge. Victoria came up with a very eloquent design concept, with its distinctive red boxes, even with a posting slit on the postcard box.

Martin Parr, photographer
‘I am very happy with the way Victoria echoed the spirit of the project and made a design concept that further amplifies my original idea.’

Martin Parr, photographer

The postbox design contains six ‘letters’: a singer-sewn booklet for each geographical region.
Images courtesy © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

The postcard box design has a slit in the front out of which Martin’s images peek out. Images courtesy © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

Remote Scottish Postboxes, Martin Parr. RRB Photobooks

The images for this book came with a wonderfully open brief as the only criteria for design was the images themselves. All the images needed to be contained in one book and one postcard box.

Editorial, physical and graphical concepts were built around the Victorian postbox from materials and sizes for the boxes to the special edition print and signed postcard adorned with vintage stamps of Scottish flaura and fauna.