Edinburgh Port of Leith - depression? (#1118)

I wanted to see what I could of historic harbour areas near Edinburgh, so took a bus out to near the HMS Britannia at the Port of Leith.

One shock as I was exploring around was what appeared, from a distance, to be a man standing almost naked (in cold weather) at a seemingly impossible location on the end of an abandoned and severely deteriorating wharf – considering the cold and grayness, I was concerned he might be depressed and debating the value of life…. But then I realized there was a seabird standing on his head, which made me wonder about my initial hypothesis. In my pictures from further away, which would justify my concerns, it was very difficult to pick out the figure – this much closer picture, during a brief period of sun, displays the statue much better.

Surprisingly, there is nothing near the site describing the statue or why it is there, but an Internet search did lead me to the link below describing this as one of six statues erected by Anthony Gormley along the Leith (I’ll have to find the rest) -- Gormely also created the Angel of the North that I saw from the train, and hope to get back to see.

Gormely: photosofedinburgh.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/photography-location-guide-the-gormley-at-ocean-terminal

(Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)