From the series Fisherwomen. © Craig Easton, all rights reserved. Collectives adapt and evolve. To survive and thrive, they must move with the times. When Document Scotland was established in 2012 by Sophie, Colin, Jeremy and Stephen, the immediate future of our nation was up for grabs, with the Independence referendum on the horizon. Our […]
Document Scotland launches Show Us Colonsay photography project – a community-focused photography event designed to engage, educate and excite. What: Show Us Colonsay Where: Colonsay and Oransay, Inner Hebrides When: 2-7 May, 2022 Show Us Colonsay is a community-focused photography event devised and delivered by Document Scotland in partnership with the Colonsay and Oransay Heritage […]
Last year Document Scotland were invited to spend a few days at the historic and iconic Glen Scotia whisky distillery, in Campbeltown, producing photographs of People, Place and Process. We’re delighted today to be able to share with you some of the work, and to invite you to explore an online exhibition held in the […]
From the outside, the abbey at Nunraw looks unremarkable. A large, grey utilitarian building, perched on a hillside in a clearing in some pine trees deep in the Lammermuir hills. Built in 1969, its modernity gave few clues to the ancient customs, practices and rituals which took place daily behind closed doors. Sancta Maria Abbey […]
I first visited the island of Easdale in autumn 1989. I must admit, I’d never heard of the place, a small clump of rock protruding from the Atlantic a few miles south of Oban on the west coast. As we clambered aboard the passenger ferry with our provisions for a weekend away, I reached for […]
In 1995, I was walking with a friend on the vast, sandy beach at St. Cyrus, a few miles north of the town of Montrose on Scotland’s east coast, when I discovered salmon net fishing. Long lines of ropes and netting, suspended from poles dug into the soft sand, the waves softly lapping around them, […]
Football has always held a grim fascination for me. From my youth, spent grubbing around the fetid underbelly of Scottish soccer as a die-hard Meadowbank Thistle supporter, to my current incarnation as a documentary photographer and some-time chronicler of the national game, what interests me most is not the multi-million pound wasters or the diving […]
Document Scotland is an admirer of Margaret Mitchell’s work here at Document Scotland, having worked alongside her and featured past projects of hers on the site from Family, In This Place and The Guisers. Margaret’s most recent body of work The Youth House, explores what happens when a community decides to empower its young people. […]
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.
DOCUMENT SCOTLAND SEEKS SUPPORT TO CONTINUE MAKING AND SHOWCASING THE BEST OF SCOTTISH DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY Document Scotland is launching an initiative to continue the work they do to support photography in Scotland. They are inviting individuals and organisations to become their patrons, and in doing so, putting the work of the collective on a sustainable […]
Hailstones, Kinnaber, 2000. Photograph © Colin McPherson, all rights reserved. This Saturday, 30th May 2020, is the twentieth anniversary of the day I took a photograph that has come to symbolise my work and the project Catching the Tide, which documented Scotland’s last salmon net fishermen. To mark the occasion, Document Scotland is hosting a […]
Over here in Document Scotland HQ we’re fans of those who promote democracy within photography, who give voices to all photographers, where all opinions are welcome and valid. For that reason we enjoy the podcasts brought to us by Grant Scott’s UN of Photography every Wednesday, in which he explores the topic of the week […]
Life is changing for all of us. That much we know about the world we live in as the conseqienses the coronavisrus pandemic become more apparent. The future has never looked more uncertain and we can only guess and speculate what is in front of us now. A year ago, Document Scotland photographer Colin McPherson […]
There is a lot of debate these days about the role of journalism in our daily lives. Questions are asked as to where we get our information from, and the all-pervading accusation of ‘fake news’ is something which causes a real stooshie amongst the general public and also in the journalistic trade. It’s easy to […]
In the lead up to the opening of our latest showing of A Contested Land, which takes place as part of FLOW Photofest in Inverness in September, Document Scotland’s photographers give an insight into the work they have made for the show. Here, Colin McPherson, tells us about one of his favourite images his project entitled Treasured Island. “Serendipity […]
The next showing of Document Scotland’s current exhibition, A Contested Land, featuring work by Sophie Gerrard, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Stephen McLaren and Colin McPherson, will be at FLOW Photofest 2019, and held at Inverness College UHI. FLOW Photofest 2019 – the international photography festival running across the Highlands & Islands and Moray in the North of […]
Join us this June on Easdale Island for a Salon evening of photography, followed by a day of community photographing, chat and reviewing. Document Scotland Salon Evening Date of Event: Sat 08 Jun 2019 Location: Easdale Island Community Hall. Event Type: Exhibition Time: 8.15pm (Doors/Bar open 7.30pm) Ticket Pricing: FREE Document Scotland’s exhibition entitled […]
Our touring show for this year, A Contested Land, opens on 23rd April at Perth Museum and Art Gallery. The show will run until 23rd June, with talks about the exhibition and work by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Sophie Gerrard and Colin McPherson, on the evening of Thursday 9th May, 7pm. Perth Museum and Art Gallery,78 George […]
Yesterday evening at Stills in Edinburgh, Document Scotland photographers Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Sophie Gerrard, and Colin McPherson, and guests Arpita Shah and Margaret Mitchell, presented new photography work to a packed house, answering questions and generally having an enjoyable evening of photography from Scotland. First on the floor was Sophie, introducing her new work The Flows, which takes a […]
As part of the launch of A Contested Land, the first exhibition of which is currently on show at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol, we are staging one of our popular salon evenings at Stills Gallery in Edinburgh. The event takes place on Thursday, 7th February and as well as presenting work from our […]
Document Scotland’s A Contested Land has now opened at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol, England. The show runs until 16th March, 2019, before further showings in Scotland at Perth, Dunoon and Inverness. It gives us great pleasure to announce that our latest show, A Contested Land, successfully opened last week at the Martin Parr Foundation. Surrounded by friends, family, […]
In the lead up to the opening of 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. We start with Colin McPherson, who tells us about his project entitled Treasured Island. “Last year, […]
A Contested Land – new work and exhibition from Document Scotland. Set against the current political backdrop, Document Scotland’s four photographers examine the complex relationships between the nation’s people, history and landscape. Showing at The Martin Parr Foundation, 15th January 2019 – 16th March 2019. “The Foundation supports and preserves the legacy of photographers who […]
Document Scotland photographer Colin McPherson will be once again running a series of photography courses this summer. Based on the tiny car-free island of Easdale, 15 miles south of Oban, Colin and fellow photographer, Liverpool-based Adam Lee, will host the short residential courses, where photographers of all levels will be guided and assisted to create […]
The inaugural Flow Photography Festival took place across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in September 2017 with the theme ‘People and Place’. The festival launched at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, with several other galleries hosting work by internationally-acclaimed and award-winning photographers from Iceland, Finland, Scotland and Norway, icluding work by three Document Scotland […]
Recently as a group we were delighted to be invited to spend time at the University of St Andrews, taking a look at what goes on behind the scenes, seeing the little moments which make the historic educational establishment run on a daily basis. From gardeners to waiting staff, from members of staff to the choirs […]
Document Scotland are very pleased to announce that we’re being represented in the inaugural Flow PhotoFestival, with two bodies of work. The new photography festival takes place across the Highlands of Scotland throughout September. Colin McPherson’s images of Scottish football culture, the When Saturday Comes series, are on show at the Eden Court, Bishops Rd, Inverness, IV3 5SA. From 2nd […]
Celebrating 175 years of Scottish Photography in the home of Scottish Photography We at Document Scotland are very pleased to involved with the first ever St Andrews Photography Festival 2016 where we will be presenting a Document Scotland public exhibition and a free Salon afternoon of talks, multimedia and discussion about documentary photography in Scotland. […]
This month sees the first new whisky distillery for a century officially opening in Fife. Document Scotland photographer Colin McPherson was commissioned by the company responsible for the project, MacDuff International, a Swedish-own film with head offices in Glasgow, to document the construction of the InchDairnie facility from a brown-field building site to completed distillery. […]
On Thursday 7th April at 6pm Colin McPherson will be in conversation with writer Kevin Williamson. The event is free. All are welcome!
To mark today’s final printed edition of the Independent, Document Scotland’s Colin McPherson talks about his contribution to the newspaper and the motivation behind the publication of a book of his photographs taken on assignment for, or published by, the paper. Document Scotland (DS): Today, 26th March, the last edition of the Independent will hit […]
Twenty years ago this weekend, on 13th March 1996, a lone gunman entered Dunblane Primary School and shot dead 16 pupils and their teacher, before killing himself. Document Scotland photographer Colin McPherson was one of the first Press photographers on the scene and recalls the impact the day had on the town, its people and […]
Our Salon events for 2016 start next month, and we are delighted to be partnering with the University of Highlands and Islands to bring you events across Scotland. On the 18th February 2016 we will be hosting an event from Perth College which will be streamed live to venues across Scotland. We hope you’ll be […]
Happy 2016 everyone – to kick start this year Document Scotland have once again joined forces with our good friends the Welsh collective A Fine Beginning. Continuing our theme of collaboration and partnership to show our exhibition Common Ground. The exhibition opening evening (to which you are all most welcome) is on Thuesday 4th February […]
On Thursday 14th January 2016 Anne Lyden, International Photography Curator of our exhibition “The Ties That Bind” currently on at The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, will lead a tour of the exhibition from 5pm – 5:30pm. All are welcome – this event is FREE. For more information please see here
Malcolm Dickson, director of Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow will give a lunchtime talk on 13th January at The Scottish National Galleries to accompany our exhibition “The Ties That Bind” currently on at The Scottish National Portrait Gallery. All are welcome – this event is FREE. For more information please see here
This month Document Scotland’s exhibition ‘The Ties That Bind’ at The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh has been featured on BBC TV and Radio. Sophie was filmed talking about her long term project about women, farming and the landscape, ‘Drawn To The Land’ on BBC1’s Landward and was interviewed for Radio Scotland’s Out of […]
One of the most pleasing spin-offs from the launch of our show at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery has been the blizzard of positive press coverage for the show. Added to this, the BBC commissioned and made a short film about Colin McPherson’s work, which has been released on the corporation’s website today. Focusing on […]
Our exhibition at The Scottish National Portrait Gallery – “The Ties That Bind” opens soon. To accompany the opening of the exhibition, we will be presenting our work and talking about our projects at the Portrait Gallery, on Saturday 26th September from 2-3pm. The event is free, and all 4 of us will be speaking […]
We are delighted to announce that publisher Cafe Royal Books has produced a very special, limited edition box set of work by Document Scotland’s four photographers. Timed to coincide with our exhibition entitled The Ties That Bind, which opens at the end of September at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the compendium of […]