Romantic Camera

Romantic Camera is the first exhibition within the new Photography Gallery in the refurbished Scottish National Portrait Gallery. This space will display a rolling programme of shows and exhibitions throughout the year.

Romantic Camera will explore for the first time the highly charged relationship between romanticism and photography in Scotland. This exhibition suggests that rather than vanishing during the 1840s, the romantic impulse has been vital to the development of the medium, up to and including the present day.

Romanticism emerged as a literary form in the 1790s and had a powerful impact on Scottish culture, particularly through the influence of the poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott. Photography in Scotland was born in Scott’s shadow and was profoundly shaped by his creative imagination. Characterised by nostalgic longing, nineteenth-century photographers hunted out traces of Scotland’s turbulent history or ranged across the landscape in search of poetic subjects.

Showcasing over 40 different photographers, the exhibition will includes works by Adamson and Hill, Julia Margaret Cameron, James Craig Annan, Bill Brandt, Oscar Marzaroli, Michael Reisch and Zwelethu Mthethwa.