In the summer of 2019, Elliot Caunce made the decision to relocate to Scotland from Cornwall. As he saw it, there were two factors that led to that decision. In the first instance, he had asked a Dundee woman to marry him, and in true Scot fashion, she saw no logical reason why they should […]
I had already noticed Nicola Stead’s portraits of Glasgow women on her website, stumbled into by chance following links and clicks, and I was taken by the simplicity of them, but also the strength of the women that showed through the great use of light, and sharpness of focus, as well as their expressions. Lovely portraits.
I am always intrigued by creative people who manage to cross-pollinate their practice by involving other disciplines. I first came across the work of Angus-based writer Bill Duncan in the first years of this century, when he published a couple of wry, funny and beautifully-observed chronicles of Scottish life through the prism of Calvinism.
A few days back photographer Iain McLean told Colin and I that he’d been working on a series of portraits of homeless people, and assisted by the Simon Community Scotland. Today he shares with us some of the work, which is still ongoing and due to be exhibited in October, along with his thoughts on the project.
Today Paul Glazier launches a kickstarter to support his new book “Island Tides” Published with Bluecoat Press the book documents life on Vatersay in the Outer Hebrides over the 35 year period Paul visited the island.
Document Scotland caught up with photographer Holger Mohaupt to talk to him about his work titled The CoronaTapes, a project made in response to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic crisis. Walking with Gloves – A Pandemic Diary DS- How did the project come about?HM – The project wasn’t planned, it emerged from conversations with people in […]
Last week, via Twitter I found this little set of images by a good friend and colleague, the London-based photographer Richard Baker. I was struck by the text and images which I thought formed a tender little portrait of both a day out as a working photographer, and also of Tom Leppard, the tattooed hermit of Skye.
Document Scotland was delighted to be able to talk to recent graduate photographer Ili Mansor about her work titled Salaam. Salaam is a short form for ‘As-salamu alaykum’ which means may peace be upon you, a universal greeting Muslims greet each other with. Salaam (peace) is the main concept of this body of work. Islamophobia […]
In 2015 while studying photography at Edinburgh College of Art, Mairead Keating spent time an an Edinburgh youth club making portraits of the children she met there. The resulting body of work, “Be, Still” explores notios of childhood and growing up. Sophie spoke with Mairead about making the work and how the project came about. […]
Document Scotland showcases the work of veteran photojournalist Mike Abrahams though his series of images titled Glasgow. Here he explains the background to the work: “I grew up in Liverpool in the 50s and 60s, a city in which to my eyes colour was absent. I recall soot, smog and dereliction only in black and […]
Ask The Sea, by Peter Iain Campbell. Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, of Document Scotland – Can you tell us how this cool work came about? Peter Iain Campbell – “Ask The Sea” is the follow up project to my “Starlings On Fire” work which I shot while I was working on a Drilling Rig in the central […]
‘NHS 88’by Iain Stewart. As I write, on a Thursday evening, I’m watching the clock, mindful to stop at 8pm and go to the front door with my family and most of my street to Clap For Our Carers, marking our gratitude and respect for our National Health Service, keeping us all alive and well […]
Jos, Thanks for agreeing to share some of your work with Document Scotland. We came across your images via Twitter a week or two back, where you seem to have been posting scans of old negatives. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background and when you were doing these images? – Jeremy […]
Trying to keep up to date with the current tumultuous news of life on Twitter it’s heartening to scroll to a Tweet which shows images and catches your eyes. Such has been the way this past week or so when I’ve discovered two photographers posting old images of Glasgow and beyond. I dropped them both a note, […]
It’s Saturday afternoon during the coronavirus outbreak and I have the blues. Our football grounds, like the cities and towns across the country, are silent and empty. Like everyone else, I won’t be going to a game today. There’s something particularly sad and sombre for a football fan to see our stadiums unused and redundant. […]
Save It For a Rainy Day, by photographer Doro Zinn, is currently showing at Glasgow’s Street Level Photoworks until the 8th September. Document Scotland photographer Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert caught up with Doro via email, kindly she’s allowing us to share some of her photography from The Gorbals, an area of Glasgow which has been much frequented by […]
The memories are still ripe in my mind. The rain sliding in a grey sheet across the train window, the cold air colliding with our faces and the wind catching our breath as we alight from the train at the inappropriately-named Coatbridge Sunnyside station. In the distance, piercing the sodden winter gloom, bright stripes of […]
We’re very pleased to be able to bring you the work of Glasgow-Based photographer Wattie Cheung, who has recently been working on a series of portraits of Scottish D-Day veterans. Wattie, who was Scottish Press Photographer of the Year 2018 (amongst other awards), shares with us some of the work and the story behind the […]
“If you’re not rebelling, you’re not paying attention” is a quote on a placard and gives the title to a portfolio of photographs by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert in 2019, documenting the climate protests on 2019 in Glasgow. Here he explains what he saw: “From young to old, seasoned campaigners to those learning to take action, the […]
Born in Edinburgh, Craig Easton is a photographer whose work is deeply rooted in the documentary tradition. His photography often uses a mix of intimate portraiture and large format landscape to explore social histories and identity. His early career was defined by his work for the groundbreaking Independent newspaper in London and he has since gone […]
It was with interest recently that I spotted a little link in a mailer from Street Level Photoworks / Photo Networks Scotland, that author Michael Cope would be doing a talk (last week) in Uist about his new book on The Photographs of Archie Chisholm. I wasn’t aware of the name Archie Chisholm, or of […]
Stephen McLaren talks about his new and ongoing work Edinburgh Unchained. After I finished taking photographs for my 2015 project, A Sweet Forgetting, which looked at how Scottish slave-owners made their fortunes in the production of sugar by thousands of enslaved Africans in 18th and 19th century Jamaica, I felt that there was some unfinished […]
As we approach our forthcoming exhibition at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol in January, 2019, each of the four Document Scotland photographers gives an insight into the work they have made for the show. Here, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert tells of his project ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’: “I’ve always marvelled at the thought that walking down the street any one person […]
This interview by Sophie predates Margaret joining Document Scotland. The final project has 100 images and ran from 2015-2019 Over three Halloweens (2015-7), Margaret Mitchell photographed children who visited her home as Guisers. Their highly individual costumes displayed not only their originality but also conveyed aspects of the inner world of the child. Sophie spoke […]
The British Journal of Photography recently announced their shortlist of photographers for their Portrait of Britain photo project, and we’re delighted that photographers and work from Scotland made the cut. Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert‘s portrait from Langholm Common Riding (from his Unsullied and Untarnished book of the Scottish Common Ridings) was selected, as are two portraits be Edinburgh-based Euan Myles (and […]
100 years of Scottish photography secured for the nationAn exceptional collection of historic photographs that captures a century of life in Scotland is to be shared with the public following a special collaboration between the National Library of Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland. More than 14,000 images – dating from the earliest days […]
Paul Duke’s new book of photography, No Ruined Stone, reminds us that the places in which we grow up rarely leave us, they exert a pull across the decades and often force us in later life to re-examine how we have become the person we are today. Muirhouse, built in the 1950s as a council estate to […]
Mhairi Bell-Moodie’s work, Nevertheless, She Persisted telling the stories of women who have faced adversity is currently being exhibited at Out of the Blue in Edinburgh. Mhairi worked closely with 25 women who have overcome child loss, domestic abuse, rape, self harm, body dysmorphia, suicide attempts, breast cancer and much more. We spoke to Mhairi about the […]
‘Masc’ – by Craig Waddell is a series of queer portraits that challenge the outdated idea of conventional masculinity. Document Scotland first saw Craig’s work at The Edinburgh College of Art degree show in 2017, we wanted to know more and so Sophie chatted with Craig recently about his motivation behind making the work and […]
‘Black Dots’ by Nicholas White is an exploration of mountain bothies and bothy culture throughout the United Kingdom. Many of the structures, landscapes and people included in the project were photographed in Scotland, Sophie caught up with Nicholas to talk about the project… “Far from civilisation and mostly accessible only by foot, bothies are secluded […]
This week I attended the opening of Paul Walton’s Hum, which runs until 9th February in an exhibition space on the 5th floor of Glasgow University’s St. Andrew’s building. I have been an admirer of Paul’s work for a number of years, and was impressed to see this collection of over 70 hand printed silver gelatin prints, […]
Nil Desperandum – the motto of Bellahouston Harriers running club, a club based in Glasgow’s Southside and formed in 1892. Boasting a long and prestigious history, including Olympians, the club has won many District and National level trophies. The club this week held a 125th anniversary run, commemorating the first recorded Bellahouston Harriers run on the […]
Photographer of Glasgow, Colin Templeton, is exhibiting work in a group show Photography Now, at the Brick Lane Gallery in London, from 8th – 20th November. There’s an opening night on the 8th Nov, 6.00- 8.30pm. Of the work he’ll exhibit Colin says, “The city is in constant flux. Right now in Glasgow the shipyard […]
One of the bodies of work we love in Document Scotland is Tom Kidd’s Life in Shetland. So we are delighted to showcase a second body of work from Tom, featuring life in Aberlour House School. Below, Tom tells how the project came about. (Title image: Aberlour House School, 1978/79. ©Tom Kidd 2017, all rights […]
Tanera (Ar Dùthaich) is a project by Derbyshire-based photographer Kevin Percival which will be exhibited from this Sunday, 18th June, at Rhue Art in Ullapool. The photographs featured focus on a tiny island off the west coast of Scotland, where Kevin lived and worked for several years. Like many of Scotland’s coastal communities, the challenges […]
LOS ANGELES – During the rise of industrialization in mid-19th century Scotland, Thomas Annan ranked as the preeminent photographer of Glasgow. For more than 25 years, he prodigiously recorded the people, the social landscape, and the built environment of the city during a period of rapid growth and change. Thomas Annan: Photographer of Glasgow, on […]
A PERFECT CHEMISTRY: PHOTOGRAPHS BY HILL & ADAMSON27 May – 1 October 2017SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY This summer the Scottish National Portrait Gallery will explore the captivating images produced by the unique partnership of Scottish photographic pioneers David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848). A Perfect Chemistry will comprise over 100 photographic works dating […]
WildFires is a new collective of female photographers working in Scotland. Initiated by Dr. Katherine Parhar, the group’s first exhibition, When the Light Shifts, is on display at Glasgow Women’s Library until 1st April. Here, Sarah speaks to Katherine about the ideas and aims behind the initiative. SAF: Katherine, can you tell us a bit about […]
The work of Scottish photographer Keith Lloyd Davenport first came to our attention last year when Document Scotland held a portfolio review session in Cardiff at the launch of our Common Ground exhibition at the city’s Millennium Centre. It’s fair to say that tackling the subject of fishermen as a documentary photographer offers both abundant […]
GRAHAM MACINDOE: COMING CLEAN8 April – 5 November 2017Scottish National Portrait Gallery1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JDAdmission free#GrahamMacIndoe Powerful self-portraits depicting drug addiction of acclaimed Scottish photographer to be shown by National Galleries of Scotland A compelling and powerful series of photographs that document an acclaimed Scottish photographer’s devastating descent into drug addiction are to […]