Recently I wrote about a beautiful collection of old Islay and Scotland postcards. I also mentioned that I'm really keen on seeing them and therefore it was great when Gavin from Northern Ireland sent me an email with links to a huge collection of old photographs from all over Scotland and many from Islay and Jura. This collection belongs to the University of St Andrews Photographic Archive and shows Scotland, and Islay, in black and white from the late 1800s to (almost) present day: "This website offers you access to the amazing wealth of photography held within the Special Collections Department of the University of St Andrews Library. Here you will find masterpieces of very early photography from one of the world’s outstanding collections, as well as thousands of images taken by masters of the art, both professional and amateur, over the last century and a half."

So how does it work? When you start from the mainpage you can enter a search key and access the thousands and thousands of pictures. When the first results show you can click on an image which will bring up a slightly larger image and a good description. If you then click on "larger image" you see the full sized image but unfortunately no description. Only if you move your mouse over the image you get a wee description. It's only when you start searching you discover that the collection is huge and very very interesting. The search for Islay brought up 76 results. Although not all the pictures are from Islay, most of them are. It's a pleasure to look at the old photos and postcards of bygone days. The search for Jura brought up even more images, 134 to be precise. I am sure most of you will have a pleasant time scrolling through this fantastic collection of old photographs. Enjoy!

The Pioneer at Port Askaig Pier, Registered 12 July 1904

Tag: photography history