Metaphysical Mapmaking [519]

Greetings from The Borders...

I’m Christian Payne, aka documentally. I’ve been called lots of things, including an ‘autotelic’, but I feel mostly like a photographer audio documenter and writer.

Normally I write and curate a weekly dispatch where I seek out novelty, explore the relations between things, how we share, what we share and consume, plus where we might be going. But these last couple of weeks have seen me and the family in the midst of a house move so everything is up in the air.

We are now in a messy but beautiful place we can technically call home. But it is not quite our home. Not yet.

I’ve put most of this email behind a paywall so I can share photos of the new house and chat openly about the behind-the-scenes chaos with those friends and connections who support this publication.

People like Roger Overall who despite the miles between us (& who’s just renewed a subscription) I very much consider a friend.

People who I feel are far more forgiving of my casual missives and meandering tales of a life and home in flux.

Those of you who have moved home with a family will know exactly what i’m talking about. I must have erased all memory of the last time we moved. I have no recollection of it at all.

Right now it feels not only physically exhausting, but there’s also a psychological too-ing and fro-ing between who we were, who we are during this transition, and who we hope to be.

It's a journey from the managed calm of the Fens, to a land rich in stories and shaped by battle lines, and weather. We didn’t just change address, we changed atmosphere and shifted a datum that needs to be reset. I’m still getting a feel for the place, but it feels older, wilder and more compelling here.

Almost 2000 sq miles between Edinburgh and the north of England, the Scottish Borders is a region defined as much by its quiet resilience as its dramatic history. Dotted with market towns, it’s a landscape of winding rivers, rolling hills and dense woodland. A small fraction of which I’ve started to explore. If we are connected on Strava you might see some of my dog walks.

Once the frontline of centuries-long skirmishes between Scotland and England, today The Borders are far more chilled. Although i’ve already sensed a little resentment when someone mentions that the west of Scotland has the most awe inspiring coastlines. This may be true, but this slower more easygoing pace and landscape seems somewhat overlooked and i’m drawn to the feeling it’s a place where the past and present now live comfortably side by side.

Over the coming weeks, months or perhaps even years, I hope to dip into some of the stories born here. As well as share the usual links, art and missives.

But for now, still surrounded by boxes, as I struggle to find a slither of internet, here’s more on this past week and the place we are now calling home.