There are a number of new displays and exhibitions in Edinburgh. At the National Gallery a new display within the Scottish galleries looks at textiles and fashion through a small selection of calotypes (positives and negatives) of Hill and Adamson. They highlight the remarkable skill of pioneering photographers Hill and Adamson in using the process to showcase the fashions of the 1840s. They embraced the technical challenge of photographing the varied textiles and fashions of the day. Still experimenting with the calotype process, they successfully reveal the delicate pattern on a pair of lace gloves, the rough wool of tartans and tweeds and the sheen of silk.
At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG), an exhibition celebrates forty years of collecting photography. There are highlights from Scotland's world-class collection of over 55,000 photographs. Find famous faces, gems of early Scottish photography and new acquisitions which push the boundaries of photography. Arranged thematically - Portraiture, Experimentation, Documentary - the displays bring historical photography and contemporary photography together to hint at the breadth of the collection. Side panels note the need for inclusivity and ask visitors to recommend contemporary photographers whose work should be included in the collection, the other reminds us of the archive and a new acquisition (see below).
Just opened in the King's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse is Royal Portraits which was originally seen in London. In the balcony space and side gallery the exhibition feels smaller than that in London, but it focuses more directly on the photography with less contextual art. It's engaging, with work photography from Cecil Beaton to Leibowitz, and it shows how royalty has been pictured and used photography, and how they have been photographed has changed over the century.
Stills gallery current student show is just about to end and a new exhibition from a Hayward touring show will be installed. The popular photobooth remains in situ.
The Annan Archive acquisition
The SNPG's 40th anniversary show teases visitors with a few objects from a very significant recent acquisition, the Annan Archive, This has recently been purchased from the Annan family, with the support of the Art Fund. The archive is extensive and covers both the family and the business of T & R Annan in which, of course, photography features strongly. One case in the exhibition, shows a sample of what is included with several of James Craig Annan's many exhibition medals, his notebook recording exhibition prints; an early ambrotype portrait of Thomas Annan, and his passport to Vienna where he met Karl Klič and negotiated the right to operate his printing process. These are just a very small sample of the entire archive.
During a recent visit, the Ben Harman and Louise Pearson, the photography curators, showed me an original collodion negative (one of a number) from Old Streets and Closes, Hill & Admson prints and negatives, D O Hill portrait sketches and examples of the firm's printing.
National Galleries Scotland and the Art Fund are due to make a formal announcement of the acquisition shortly, and the gallery will be appointing someone to work on the archive readying it for public access. It is very likely that an exhibition exploring the role the firm and the Annan family members played within photography, printing and within Scotland will be held in the future.
BPH will continue to follow work on the archive as it progresses.
See:
Hill & Adamson | Fashion & Textiles 1843–1848, until 8 June 2025
Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography Collection, until 16 March 2025
Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, until 7 September 2025
Stills - centre for photography
Photographs: Michael Pritchard
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