Shetland Museum and Archives launches J.D. Rattar calendar and Photo Archive Christmas cards
The Shetland Museum and Archives have launched a 2010 calendar featuring the photographs of J.D. Rattar and two sets of Christmas cards featuring pictures from the Photographic Archive.
Born on a croft at Fethaland in 1876, John David Rattar (known locally as Jack) went onto become one of Shetland’s most famous photographers. His pencilled signature of J.D. Rattar became a byword for quality photography and during his lifetime most Shetland homes had at least one of his prints hanging on the walls. Over 50 years after his death, Rattar prints are still much in demand when they appear at local auctions.
The calendar features 15 of his pictures from the Museum and Archives collection of over 2,000 Rattar images. The pictures cover a wide geographical area and many of the compositions he was famous for, including landscapes and crofting and fishing activities, as well as leisure pursuits, such as a regatta. Priced at £6.50 the calendar makes Rattar prints available to adorn the walls of Shetland homes again, and also makes it an ideal gift.
The Museum and Archives have also used images from its photographic archive to create two sets of Christmas cards, one scenic and the other humorous. The pictures for the cards were chosen by the Museum and Archives and Shetland Amenity Trust staff by a voting process and the humorous Shetland dialect captions were also suggested by the staff, with the most popular being printed. The cards are sold in sets of six for £6.50 per set, or two sets for £12.