The opening evening of Beyond The Border at Impressions Gallery in Bradford on Thursday 3rd July was a great success, thank you all so much for coming. We were delighted to see so many new and familiar faces there, enjoying the photography, the conversation, the wine and of course, the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers. Document Scotland […]
Late Summer in California is the perfect time to watch the Scottish-American diaspora at play. Highland Games, like the one in Dixon, a small farming town near the State capital, Sacramento, tend to come at the end of a sultry season and so the sportsmen and women, like the shinty players, and the heavy games […]
Edinburgh during the festival is a lively place, full of energy, excitement and a melting pot of ideas, inspiration and passion. What better reason to invite friends and colleagues to an evening of Scottish photography, multimedia and conversation at Stills Gallery, Scotland’s centre for photography in the heart of the city. All of us at […]
An afternoon of talks and photographs will take place today at the Old School Community Centre at Shawbost on the island of Lewis to celebrate the life of Dr Norman Morrison (Tormod an t-Seoladair), whose pre-World War I photographs of life in the area are being presented in public for the first time. Dr Morrison […]
It was the second Rangers away game I’d been to for my, at that time, new project ‘Life In The 3rd’. I wished to follow Rangers FC as they travelled around the country and through the Scottish footballing 3rd Division, taking in the small towns and lesser stadiums of the land. I’d just recently returned […]
“I’m are very pleased to announce that today Cafe Royal Books, run and published by Craig Atkinson, have published a little limited edition (of 150) ‘zine book of my Common Riding photographs. All the images were shot in 2000, in the Scottish Borders, and 14 of them form the 28page black and white ‘zine. All […]
“On Twitter and the BBC this morning I read that Kay Matheson, one of the four students whom on Christmas Day 1950 liberated the Stone of Destiny from it’s position in Westminster Abbey, had passed away aged 84. The story of Kay Matheson, and her three accomplices Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon and Alan Stuart, is […]
As the old maxim in publishing goes, celebrity sells. So I was delighted to encounter Rod Stewart on a scrubby patch of land, a few short yards inside Scotland. Not the real McCoy, of course, but an invocation to attend a musical tribute to the great Jockney singer at some nearby watering hole. An evening […]
Document Scotland were delighted to be interviewed by The Dundee Courier about the exhibition ‘Seeing Ourselves’. Stephen spoke with Jennifer McLaren and explained a little about what brought us together, our aims and our passions and how we curated the exhibition.
The British Journal of Photography has published online an article they’ve written about photographers working in collectives, and how strength of numbers can help you along in the turbulent photography market. Sophie Gerrard spoke on Document Scotland’s behalf to explain a little about why our collective was formed and how it works. You can read […]
Not strictly Scotland, but Document Scotland’s Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert has his Roma portraits work included in the ‘Seen Unseen’ photography show at Galeri BU, in Istanbul, Turkey, until July 12th. Also included in the show is the work of Ken Schles, Edward Keating, Antonin Kratchovil of VII Agency, Stephen Dupont, Ken Light, Arjen Zwart, Goskin Varan, […]
It was a foggy, cold morning and I decided to make a round of Shotts fields to find some nice and quiet landscapes.I was driving the A71 to West Tarbrax Farm when I noticed this back road blocked by 2 huge tractor tires. It was my “Wow! Look at that”. It was the way the […]
(c) Sarah Fishlock, 2013, All Right Reserved As one might expect when photographing Iraqis who were resettled in Glasgow after having worked with the British government and forces in Iraq, the security of my subjects was paramount. I learned to make alternative portraits – images that did not explicitly reveal faces or identifying features, but […]
It’s always nice to go back to where things begun. One year ago, Document Scotland was conceived in Beijing and born in Scotland. When Colin, Jeremy and Stephen travelled to China last year on assignment together, little did they think they would come back as a collective. One of the pivotal moments of the visit […]
Document Scotland are delighted to announce that to coincide with our first collaborative group exhibition, ‘Seeing Ourselves’, we’ve published a newspaper showcasing the fine documentary photography work from the show. A certain amount of the papers will be available for free at the gallery and exhibition, to thank you for making the effort to come […]
Colin McPherson, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and Sophie Gerrard of Document Scotland, will soon be in China photographing on assignment and whilst there have the pleasure of presenting Scottish documentary photography to a wider audience by holding a talk at the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing, on May 29th. The talk will present the work […]
Hugh Hood, by Allan Brown. For four decades now, the photography of Hugh Hood has hidden in plain sight. Quite literally. It lies in a ring-bound folder in a corner of the Mitchell Library’s Glasgow Room, sharing shelf space with the dusty gazateers and the typewritten reminiscences of old Shettleston. A note has been Sellotaped […]
PRESS RELEASENo embargo Document Scotland is proud and delighted to announce the date of our first collaborative group exhibition. ‘Seeing Ourselves’ will open at FOTOSPACE Gallery, Fife on June 3, 2013, and feature work by 10 leading Scottish photographers. The show has been curated by Document Scotland, in association with Colin Cavers of the Fife […]
We thought we’d add a few little bits of news, in case you’ve missed them on our Twitter feed, which you can find here @DocuScotland, and also we have a Facebook page where you can keep up to date with little bits of news, it’s here at Document Scotland Facebook page. We’re pleased to […]
Born in 1821, Alexander Gardner was a Paisley boy, before setting off in 1851 for London where he met American photographer Matthew Brady. In 1856 he left Britain by ship for American where he reunited with Brady and joined his studio. Subsequently Gardner went on to become one of the first, and most famous war […]
We’ve decided to showcase some of our many projects and work in a new Document Scotland publication, a 16 page colour newspaper, with the catchy title of DOC001. Primarily designed and published for our own use, we’re so happy with the look of it that we thought we’d also offer them to the readers of […]
Friend of Document Scotland Colin Templeton has a photography show beginning this week, and we hope you can show support for it, and pay it a visit during it’s duration of 2nd -25th February, at the Glasgow Art Club, 185 Bath Street, Glasgow. More information can be found on the Glasgow Art Club website. You […]
Today we have the pleasure of showcasing as a folio the photographs from Glyn Satterley’s latest book, his tenth, called ‘Going To The Hill, Life on Scottish Sporting Estates’. Below you can view selective pages from the book, and click here to purchase Glyn Satterley’s ‘Going To The Hill, Life On Scottish Sporting Estates’. [issuu width=420 height=229 […]
On a brilliantly bright, icy cold, winter Sunday afternoon recently I caught up with Giulietta Verdon Roe over coffee and cake. I knew that Giulietta had made several visits to the remote Scottish island of North Ronaldsay over a number of years to create a documentary photographic project of the population and character of the island. […]
It is with great pleasure that Document Scotland has the privilege of highlighting the work of veteran photographer Larry Herman. Here we reproduce our interview with him about a specific body of work which he made in Scotland in the 1970s, entitled ‘Clydeside’. A selection of the images from the Larry Herman’s Clydeside project can […]
Today here on Document Scotland we post a portfolio of Sarah Amy Fishlock’s ‘Middlemen’ series, work examining the lives of former Iraqi translators working for the British Governement and army in Iraq. We caught up with Sarah and she kindly agreed to answer some questions about her project via email: DS- What made you take […]
How many archives have you ever come across that document one area of a country, that span 112 years, and from which all the images were shot by three generations of photographers from the same family ? Not many we expect. Is it even possible you wonder. But indeed, as great as it sounds, there […]
“Can someone from elsewhere tell someone from here anything about their homeland that they don’t already know?” … asks Polish photographer Radek Nowacki in his project The Scots DNA which he sent along to us at Document Scotland recently. “I was looking for quiet and some kind of lyrical documentary style, simple and strong portraits […]
Alexander Gardner, the 19th century Scottish photographer, is the last person you expect to find late on a Thursday evening hanging out on Twitter, but indeed to my amusement and surprise I somehow stumbled into his Twitter feed. Alexander Gardner was, or is (since he is still tweeting and nice to see he’s taken to […]
Document Scotland is delighted to announce that photographer Sophie Gerrard will be joining us as a core member with immediate effect. Edinburgh-born Sophie is gaining a growing reputation for her work, both in Scotland and further afield. As well as working as an editorial photographer for many of the London-based broadsheet newspapers and magazines, Sophie […]
The Jill Todd Photographic Award has been set up to promote new photography in Scotland and will stage its inaugural event at Whitespace (formerly Doggerfisher Gallery) in Edinburgh between the 2-11th November 2012. Three winners have been selected from an open submission to the JTPA, and their work will be showcased in the gallery and […]
It’s evening, autumn 2012, and I’m at the desk, digging back through the hard-drive of my memory, looking for an evening some thirteen years that is filed away in some dark corner. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edinburgh, 1999. Eve Arnold too. I do have memories… I also have photographs. Can I trust either? Much as I love […]
“In the shade of St. Andrew’s House the press awaited the appearance of, and handshake between, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and British Prime Minister David Cameron. The cold seeped to the marrow of journalists and photographers, as the police and politician’s aides kept us all behind barriers. With little fanfare, and with the lone […]
Paul Strand‘s book of Hebridean photographs, ‘Tir a’Mhurian‘, was published fifty years ago this month. In The Guardian’s Scottish Blog Fraser MacDonald, of Edinburgh university, reviews it’s relevance and the background to Strand’s project. By kind permission of Fraser MacDonald, and The Guardian we republish his article here. Paul Strand’s Hebrides: subtle, sensitive with a dash […]
Last week, the island of Easdale was in the news about a threat to a world-class sporting event held on its square mile of craggy slate anchored off the Argyll coast. Apparently the island’s owner wanted to cancel the island’s premier sporting event of the season, the World Stone Skimming Championships, for not providing a […]
While traversing Scotland in pursuit of photographs for my long-term project, Scotia Nova, I often find myself in small, un-heralded towns looking for little moments which reveal a wider truth about modern Scotland. Towns like Shotts, Peterhead, Larbert, Wemyss Bay, solid working class towns with civic monuments and no-nonsense inhabitants. These settlements are representative of […]
Photographing conflict and post-conflict arenas is one of the most interesting sub-genres of documentary photography. There are many different approaches which make for outstanding viewing. From the monumental landscapes of Donovan Wylie and Simon Norfolk, depicting the theatre sets of war to the late Tim Hetherington’s claustrophobic and intimate moments with the dramatis personae, there […]
Document Scotland are pleased to announce that they’ll be represented at this year’s Bursa Photo Festival, in Bursa, Turkey, from September 15th-21st. Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert will be present at the festival, the 2nd year of the Bursa festival, and will be exhibiting a selection of portraits shot during his long term project with the Roma of […]