Herself: The Life and Photographs of M E M Donaldson

From back of book: "Miss Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson (1876-1858) -- 'M.E.M.D.' to her fellow historians and 'Herself' to her many friends in the Scottish Highlands -- was a very remarkable lady. Between 1912 and 1949 she wrote nine books: carefully researched accounts of the Western Highlands; delicate treatments of spiritual subjects; and one furious religious diatribe, 'Scotland's Suppressed History'. Fastidious and determined in all her work, she found creativity as a mobile 'field' photographer, traveling the Highlands, 'loaded up' and feeling 'more like a pantechnicon than anything else,' or pulling 'Green Maria', which held a half-plate camera, slides, stand and provisions. The merit of her photographs is obvious. She had the technical skill to produce negatives of remarkable sharpness, and the artistic ability to portray her subjects with natural simplicity. The best of Miss Donaldson's photgraphs, depicting a past age of Highland life, are shown here for the first time."