Telling a Feeling
Hamish Reid’s videos document the deadpan juxtapositions and found surrealisms he sees around him in the deserts, forests, oilfields, and streets of California and Nevada. His videos typically tell a feeling or a (political or environmental) situation rather than a story — there are no characters or dialog in any of his featured videos. The typical video here is a continuous movement through a landscape (desert, oilfield, or urban) accompanied by a soundtrack he’s created from found sounds, or that’s the result of collaborations with local San Francisco Bay Area musicians. Hamish’s aim is not to hit you over the head with any particular message, but to let the the strong visual ambivalence he feels about the impact of humans on the natural landscape of the Western US evoke its own story (that impact has its own undeniably strange beauty — or at least homely attractions — at times, even in the midst of destruction). Hamish’s bio can be found at his main hamishreid.com site; his main photography site is Hamish Reid Photography.
Hamish’s videos are usually available on his Youtube channel; the purpose of this site is to feature and showcase individual videos and explore them in more detail than is possible on either of those sites, using the Video Playlists page and the Featured Videos section below.
Note that the earlier videos are a bit rough technically — Hamish didn’t have much equipment or experience back then…
Note also that not all videos may be available or visible in every country due to weird Youtube embedding rules.
Featured Videos
A short section featuring some of Hamish’s videos; this selection will change (slowly) over time.
Video Playlists
Some curated playlists of Hamish’s videos (also listed on the separate Video Playlists page):
A fascination or obsession with the way machines move through or interact with their natural environment… (like watching paint dry).
Dead cars in the desert… the California and Nevada deserts have always fascinated and strongly attracted me.
Experimental backdrops for an imaginary noise band (like easy listening… but silent).
A series of videos (mostly) done from my car to try to give the effect of movement through a landscape (desert or urban).
Just some short fragments and morsels taken above California and Nevada, coupled to fleeting soundtracks. Sort of the genesis of what became Promised Land.
I’m fascinated by the way the trains you see snaking their way across the Mojave seem more natural inhabitants of the desert than the cars and trucks buzzing along the freeways and blacktops…
Get In Touch
Probably the easiest and most secure way to get in touch with Hamish is to go to the Contact link on the associated Hamish Reid Photography site. But please note that I’m not one of the world’s great email correspondents…