Scottish Portrait Awards

The MPB Scottish Portrait Awards in Photography 2024 have been announced showcasing recent graduates alongside established professionals and talented amateurs.

This year, one of Document Scotland’s photographer’s was part of the judging panel. Margaret Mitchell says:

“It was an honour to be part of the panel this year along with Simon Murphy, Jonathan Daniel Pryce, Christine Stevenson and Albert Watson OBE (Guest Judge). It was exciting to see such a range of strong, diverse work coming out of Scotland and every exhibitor should be proud of their achievements. Storytelling and intrigue were strongly present in images full of depth and reflective qualities.”

The touring exhibition can be see at the following:

Scottish Arts Club, until the 28th September 2024; Duff House, Banff from the 4th October 2024 – 31st January 2025 and the Glasgow Art Club from 8th February 2025 to 27th February 2025.

Jennifer Charlton’s image of John from the series A Hidden Community was awarded the first prize in colour. The project was the result of a research module as part of her BA Hons course at Edinburgh College and considered individuals and their experiences of mental health.


Left: The first prize in the black & white category went to Kayhan Jafar-Shaghaghi for his portrait titled Chiselled Essence: Masculine Reverie. Right: Home Comfort by Sam Schofield received second prize in the overall awards.


Andrea Thomson’s image of a young person lost in thought received third prize. The photograph was taken during preparations of 20 young people getting ready for their S5 school ceilidh. 


Blair Kemp’s photograph, Johnny’s animals, received the Young Photographer Award which formed part of Blair’s graduate project at Edinburgh Napier University. The fuller series entitled The Moon and the Yew Tree concerns the artist’s roots and is a social/collaborative piece.


Susie Lowe’s image of Alexander Stoddart in his Paisley Studio was awarded the Scottish Arts Club Members Prize for Photography. Susie says that the image is part of a series within the artists’s studio and around his beloved Paisley.


The Albert Watson Portrait Prize went to Chris Close for his portrait of James Kelman. Chris says that “I enjoy photographing people whom I find interesting and it was nice to be able to add elements that reflected the writing.”


The Scottish Portrait Awards are open to anyone over 16 years born, living or studying in Scotland. It is managed by the Scottish Arts Trust, a registered charity dedicated to promoting the arts in Scotland. The other images in the exhibition can be seen on the Trust’s website and in person at the touring exhibition.

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