Private Passions: A tale of two stills

Born in Dumfries, Ken Grier has accumulated a vast amount of experience working in the food, drink and consumer goods sectors in companies including Strongbow, McVities and Lego, before moving to the Edrington Group where he has remained for the last 20 years. At Edrington, he was responsible for the global affairs of Scotland’s best-selling whisky, The Famous Grouse, before taking on the role of marketing director for Highland Distillers and its high-value single malt portfolio of The Macallan and Highland Park. For the past 14 years, he has been the director of malt whiskies, and latterly creative director of The Macallan. During his time at the group, he helped develop the Masters of Photography project and the M decanter as well as placing The Macallan in the Oscar-winning Bond film Skyfall. Most recently, he masterminded and managed the creation of The Macallan’s new £140 million space-age distillery and visitor centre which opened in June this year. A life-long creative, his passion for street photography has seen him accumulate countless cameras, travel around the world taking photos and narrowly avoid a punch in the face in Cuba.

When did you first get into photography?

When I was about 10. My father was a photographic chemist and founder of Dumfries camera club. So I shot with him using a terrible Halina camera and then a second hand Rolleicord Va Twin Lens Reflex which dated from 1954. We spooled bulk 35mm into film canisters in the cupboard under the stairs and developed our black and white prints using a 1940s enlarger in a back bedroom.

What is it about street photography that particularly interests you?

The serendipity, thrill of the chase, judging the decisive moment, the challenge of building cultural empathy and the fact you may only end up with one hard-won shot that’s any good after hours of shooting.

What is the most important skill you require to be a good street photographer?

Nerve. You have got to challenge yourself to get the shot. That can often mean getting in really close and the fall-out that may entail.

Have you ever studied photography?

I have read plenty of books on the technical aspects of the subject and have gorged on thousands of photography monographs, but no, I’m completely self-taught.

Have you ever sold or exhibited any of your photographs?

No but one was used in a marketing project by Highland Park Single Malt Whisky. It was a shot of casks being fired in a cooperage in Jerez.

How many cameras do you own?

Too Many. At last count: 5 Leica’s; 4 Rollei’s; 1 Nikon; 1 Pentax; a ghastly Ensign folding camera from the 1950’s…oh! And a Victorian half plate camera.

Which camera is your favourite and why?

The Leica M Type 240. The most beautiful object I will ever own. Stunningly engineered and heaven to shoot with. A proper camera with the controls in the right place; great optics and a quiet shutter for street work. It is one of those things that people relate to when you shoot with it, eliciting a smile and not a scowl.

Do you have a favourite photo that you’ve taken?

My favourite photo is a picture I took of a guy in a bar in Cuba. As Capa said, if your photographs aren’t good enough you are not close enough. I got in real close took the picture and had to get out quickly as I thought he was going to punch me!

Have you ever gone on holiday or travelling simply to take photos?

Yes. I went to Cuba. It’s simply the best place in the world for street photography. It’s like a wonderful crumbling film set with wonderful props in the form of the decaying American 1940s and 50’s cars in everyday use. The people are natural, characterful and friendly.

Do you like to meet up with other photographers or do you like to work alone?

I’m open to both. I have shot with Mike Kane who is Edrington’s sales director in Asia. He is an award winning photographer with a great eye and I learnt a lot from him. Mostly I’m a photographic lone wolf stalking my prey, often in the early morning hours.

How is your passion for photography connected to your role as creative director of Macallan?

I feel that it helps hone my eye and opens up my mind to creative possibilities for the brand.

What inspired the Masters of Photography project?

The Macallan had a history of collaborating with artists such as Peter Blake and a real creative streak. I visited Château Mouton Rothschild in 2006 and was hugely impressed with what they had done by using famous artists to paint the illustration for their vintage labels every year. No one had ever appropriated photography to a drinks brand.

Photography for me is relevant; contemporary and a marketing platform that is infinitely flexible and fits The Macallan’s luxury aesthetic and gift for telling great stories based on distinctive collectible liquids. That fit made it a no-brainer.

We had to be bold and so the first edition featured talented Scottish Fashion photographer, Rankin. We shot his wife Tuuli, nude, at the time where we were about to bring back to life a disused still house. The magic was in shooting 1,000 different images all on Polaroid, just at the time this was being discontinued, and matching every uniquely labelled bottle of 30-years-old Fine Oak to its corresponding Polaroid. By the way, we then published 1,046 images in a book the size of a house brick. It paid off, it was a fabulous success, selling out, getting us millions of pounds of PR value and accessing new young drinkers to try The Macallan at launch exhibitions around the world.

Do you have a favourite edition from the project?

The Macallan Magnum Edition, just launched. It tells the story of our new £140 million distillery build. As this was my idea and took six years of my life to complete, it’s very personal. The project itself was shot by six amazing photographers (Steve McCurry; Mark Power; Martin Parr; Alec Soth; Paolo Pellegrin and Gueorgui Pinkhassov) and the thrill of working with the greatest picture agency in the world, Magnum, was a real thrill. The project has turned out wonderfully with 2,000 stunning archive boxes containing: 6 signed prints, a unique whisky vatted to contain cask representing the character of each photographer and a stunning large format book with 330 images. It truly is a legacy piece.

What similarities do whisky and photography share?

You need patience to know when the time is right, absolute mastery of the art and they produce an end result that delights and hopefully makes their customer think.

Who is your inspiration in the world of photography?

Probably Elliott Erwitt. I had the privilege of working with him. Wise, funny, charming and with the most absolutely wonderful eye for the humour and oddities that abound in human life.

What are your future goals – is there anywhere or anything you particularly want to photograph?

Yes I have upcoming trips to Marrakesh; Latin America in the shape of a visit to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. I would like to photograph in Myanmar, Italy and Australia over the next couple of years.

What do you think about the influence of channels such as Instagram and the improvement of cameras on phones?

I think that this is incredibly positive. It means that people of all ages can connect and express themselves with a phone always in their pocket.

What advice would you give to budding photographers?

As Henri-Cartier Bresson said: “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”. Just be persistent, get out there, find your voice and shoot!