Pauline Johnson,
Photography, 1968
“I escaped from an all girls’ school at the age of 16 and found myself in
the all male Engineering Department of the University of Edinburgh. I
took refuge in the basement darkroom run by friendly photographer
Brian and was immediately captivated by the magic of photography.
“Inspired, I started as a day release photography student at Napier
Technical College in 1964. It had only just opened and was barely
furnished. When we were working in the studio we had a visitor who
just seemed to pop in for a chat and talk to us about our work. We
affectionately called him ‘Old Joe’ only to find out years later he was the Principal! Classes weren’t too
formal and we often finished up in the basement of the Bruntsfield Hotel after evening class.
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“I finished my City & Guilds Certificate in 1968, by which time the college had become Napier College of
Science and Technology. This was the very early days of printing colour from negatives. We worked in
almost total darkness and didn’t come out into the light very often to preserve our ‘night vision’. Processing
was time and temperature critical and took ages. One evening, my lecturer Jim Jamieson and I were so
absorbed in processing we emerged to find the whole college in darkness and we were locked in! We had to
phone the emergency janitor to rescue us.
“I was encouraged to apply for a degree so after a further year at Napier to get more Highers, I studied
Photographic Technology at the Regent Street Polytechnic, now the University of Westminster, and met
my future husband. After we returned to Edinburgh, a chance encounter at Waverley Station, with David
Pashley, Head of Photography, led to me teaching part-time at Merchiston and then at Marchmont.
“After seven years teaching at Napier I started a full-time lecturing position at Stevenson College. Many of
the students I taught in those 27 years also progressed to Napier. I think that my greatest joy is seeing exstudents succeed in photography and seeing the amazing work they do.”
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Gordon Drysdale,
ONC Engineering, 1969
“I left school in 1967 and came to Edinburgh Napier to gain the qualifications that I needed for University
admission. I then went on to study at Heriot Watt from 1969 to 1973, where I gained my degree. If the
degree option had been available at the time, I would probably have stayed at Napier!
“I retired after a 44 year career, in 2011, from City of Edinburgh Council where I was Area Roads Manager. I
met my wife at the wedding of a friend from my Napier days.
“My greatest personal achievements are getting married and bringing up three children. I’m proud they all
went to University. My daughter also graduated from Edinburgh Napier in June 2013!”
“I think that my greatest joy is seeing
ex-students succeed in photography
and seeing the amazing work they do”
Pauline Johnson