Exhibition by former Ex-pats in Stockbridge

Scottish artists Elaine Speirs and Leesa Tulloch, who became friends when they were living in South Africa, have come together for the first time to show their new work at an exhibition in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

Painter Elaine Speirs and photographer Leesa Tulloch met five years ago in Cape Town, where they were both living and raising their young children. Both women returned to Scotland in the last couple of years.

Between them they have seven daughters ranging in age from three to twelve. All seven girls feature regularly in both Elaine and Leesa’s work.

Elaine Speirs said:

“When you are an expatriate living in a foreign country, you cherish friendships with people from your homeland. Leesa and I have a great deal in common: not only were we expatriate Scots but we are both artists and the mothers of daughters.”

“I love being back in Edinburgh. Fitting in time at my studio around caring for my daughters means that, as an artist, I’m much more focussed and creative than I’ve ever been. Living in the centre of Edinburgh means that I can easily walk between school, home and my studio – something that just wasn’t possible for me in Cape Town, where there is more emphasis on the car.”

 

Leesa Tulloch added:

“I felt an instant connection with Elaine when we met in Cape Town. Her passion for painting mirrored my own passion for photography. Back then my photography was an attempt to document the precious moments of my daughters’ childhoods in relation to the world around them.”

“Since returning to Edinburgh, my new work has become concerned with capturing the beauty of my surroundings – which I am seeing with fresh eyes after time away from Scotland – and simplifying life within it. It’s wonderful to be home and to be exhibiting alongside Elaine for the first time.”

Elaine and Leesa’s new work will be on display at an exhibition at the WASPs studios in Patriothall, Stockbridge, Edinburgh. The exhibition runs from 19-29 November 2011 and will also host new work from artists Joyce Gunn Cairns and Kenneth Le Riche.

Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival 6-9 October 2011

Several climbing, mountaineering, round the world expeditions, base jumping and mountain photography experts are among those who will be in the capital for the 9th Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival (EMFF) from Thursday 6- 9 October 2011.

This year’s diverse and packed programme of mountain films, lectures and exhibitions is guaranteed to inspire, enlighten and entertain the capital’s annual gathering of the adventure sports, photography and filmmaking communities; as well as those who love the outdoors, travel and mountain adventure.

Among those speaking at the EMFF this year are Catherine Destivelle, whose climbing career was the subject of the film ‘Beyond the Summits’, Karina Hollekim, who survived a horrific sky diving accident when her parachute failed to open and who then hit the ground at 120mph, and Johnny Dawes, who will reflect on his ground breaking and cult climbs around the world, using his infamous brand of metaphor and humour.

Also speaking is Alastair Humphreys who set off on his round the world trip in September 2001 but who had to completely change his planned route after the 9/11 attacks on New York.  Humphreys will share some stories from the journey which Sir Ranulph Fiennes described as ‘The first great adventure of the 21st Century’.

The main EMFF events are again based at George Square Lecture Theatre at Edinburgh University, with some extra events being staged at Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA), Ratho.  Tickets, which range from £5-£12, are on sale online now.

As well as the guest speakers, the EMFF will be screening over 20 remarkable films delivering adventure, high drama, thrills and spills.  The films come from across the world but there are several Scottish films making waves, including Hamish Gow’s ‘Hamish’s Kayaking Films’ and ‘Running Wild’ – the story of Scottish ultra-runner, Fiona Rennie, who suffered a brain haemorrhage recently but is now back running in the mountains.

The 9th EMFF photography exhibition, in conjunction with The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, runs from 24 September to 23 October and is being staged in the main foyer of EICA, Ratho.  The exhibition features the best entries in the competition categories – Bold Move and Mountain Days and the winners will be announced on Sunday 9 October.

Tarnished Earth – exhibition at Botanics

Tarnished Earth, a dramatic open air gallery of photographs by Jiri Rezac, telling the story of one of the world’s biggest ecological disasters, has arrived in Edinburgh this month.

The free outdoor exhibition shows how Canada’s magnificent Boreal Forest is being destroyed and polluted by the rush to extract oil from the tar sands just below the surface.

Staged by The Co-operative Group in conjunction with WWF-UK and Greenpeace, Tarnished Earth is touring the UK and has so far been seen by more than five million people. The three metre high installations of astounding images will be displayed in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, throughout September .

The photographs are illuminated at night and contrast the destruction caused by the oil extraction with the area’s pristine wilderness and the traditional way of life of the indigenous First Nation Cree. The exhibition forms part of The Co-operative’s on-going Toxic Fuels campaign.

Paul Monaghan, Head of Social Goals and Sustainability at The Co-operative, said: “It is really important that people see for themselves the scale of the environmental destruction which is being done in order to extract oil from tar sands.

“The greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands oil are far greater than those of conventional oil, and its exploitation alone would be sufficient to take the world to the brink of runaway climate change.

“Tarnished Earth vividly portrays the impact tar sands operations are having on this beautiful area of boreal forest which has been home to wildlife and the indigenous Cree nations for thousands of years.”

 

 

World Press Photo Exhibition at Holyrood 6 – 27 August 2011

The world’s premier photojournalism exhibition will open at the Scottish Parliament for its sixth year running from Saturday 6 August until 27 August.

Holyrood is one of only two venues in the UK, and the only Parliament worldwide, to exhibit the World Press Photo Exhibition.

The collection features breathtaking images from world events in 2010 and features the work of 6 photographers representing 23 nationalities.

Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick MSP said: “The exhibition is always extraordinary and we are honoured to be hosting this collection once again. It is estimated over 160,000 visitors have visited this captivating exhibition since it first opened at Holyrood.

“We hold the World Press Photo exhibition in conjunction with our Festival of Politics programme each year. This is a great opportunity for visitors to the Parliament to view the exhibition as well as take part in topical debates and political discussions.”

This year’s overall contest winner is South African photo-journalist Jodi Bieber for her image of a young Afghani woman Bibi Aishi. Bibi fled her husband to escape a life of violence, only to suffer horrific disfigurement at the hands of her husband on the order of a local Taliban commander. Bibi now lives in the United States and is undergoing reconstructive surgery.

Here is Bieber speaking about winning the prize:-

Commenting on this year’s winning image, Jury Chair David Burnett said: “This could become one of those pictures – and we have maybe just ten in our lifetime – where if somebody says “you know, that picture of a girl…”, you know exactly which one they’re talking about.”

Other winning images include those taken in the aftermath of the Haiti and China earthquakes, anti government riots in Thailand, a Spanish Matador being wounded by a bull, a cycle tour of Eritrea, fairground people in Ireland and female wrestlers in Bolivia.

A programme of photography-themed events and discussions will take place as part of the Festival of Politics to coincide with the WPP exhibition. This includes a photographic essay on female dominated communities, the impact of social media on politics and a session entitled Covering Conflict: the role of the photographer and artist.

Last Orders: In Process

Photographer Alberto Santos Bellido debuted his unique photographic exhibition at The Arches in Glasgow on Wednesday night, entitled Last Orders: In Process.

With one half of Glasgow’s cavernous Arches bar adorned with close-up portraits of a ghoulish character (complete with bloody mouth) being restrained by ropes, one might have been forgiven for thinking this exhibit was something from Hammer House of Horror. But further inspection revealed the opposite wall depicting back-stage candid moments and rehearsal goings on for Last Orders – David Hughes Dance Production’s latest offering.

The new piece of dance-theatre from choreographer and director, Al Seed, is the follow-up to 2009′s award-winning The Red Room, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, and based upon the Sawney Bean cannibal myths – the legendary 16th century Scottish cannibal, and his cursed, incestuous and multigenerational tribe of relentless killers – which explains the frightening and disturbing nature of Alberto’s shots.

“I am also the lighting director and technical manager for this production, and I felt the dramatic images of the characters in costume worked really well. I am also interested in bondage photography so these photographs tie in with my artistic interests,” he said.

“I have taken photographs like this of every production I’ve worked on, however this is my first exhibition. I hope it won’t be the last!”

In association with The National Theatre of Scotland, Last Orders will debut as part of the British Council showcase and Made in Scotland programmes at the Traverse Theatre during this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show will then embark on an autumn tour, including dates at The Arches.

What: Last Orders

Where: Traverse Theatre [venue 15], Cambridge Street, Edinburgh – http://www.traverse.co.uk/

When: Tuesday 16 to Sunday 28 August – not Monday 22 August / Preview Tuesday 16 August

How Much:Main performances – £17 / £12 concs / £6 unemployed, Sun – Thurs;

£19 / £13 concs, Fri – Sat

For tickets and performance times: Traverse Box Office: +44 (0)131 228 1404 / http://www.traverse.co.uk/Fringe Box Office: +44 (0)131 226 0000

2011 Autumn Tour Dates:

Thursday 22 September – Macphail Centre, Ullapool

Saturday 24 September – Aros, Isle of Skye

Tuesday 27 September – Carriageworks, Leeds

Friday 30 September – Eastgate Arts, Peebles

Saturday 1 October – Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh

Monday 3 October – Universal Hall, Findhorn

Tuesday 4 October – Lemon Tree, Aberdeen

Thursday 6 October – Cumbernauld Theatre, Cumbernauld

Friday 7 October – Arches, Glasgow

Saturday 8 October – Macrobert, Stirling

John Beatty presents Wild-Vision

Internationally acclaimed photographer John Beatty will be in appearing in Edinburgh  this April with a fantastic evening of stories and images from his journeys into the wilderness.

John is widely acclaimed as one of the most exciting and stimulating nature, travel and adventure photographers to have emerged in recent years. His pictures have appeared in The Times, the National Geographic, the Daily Mail & CBS News as well as in almost all the outdoor media.

He has dedicated his life to capturing the magnificence of the natural environment through his lens and has travelled to over 38 different countries. He is currently one of twenty UK photographers taking part in a new conservation initiative called 2020Vision: For a wilder Britain.  His audio-visual presentations infuse his audiences with energy and wonder at the beauty of our planet. With images and footage from the ferocious volcanic eruptions on the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, Iceland, the Great Migrations of the Serengeti and the beauty of the wild land locations of Britain.

“A superb creative experience.”  Sir Chris Bonington

“A life changing experience…In short: Beatty has helped me ‘see’.”
 Rosanna Rothery, North Devon Journal

His show in Edinburgh is at Portobello Town Hall on Wednesday 6th April at 7.30 pm Tickets £13 each from the Speakers from the Edge website or by telephoning the Box Office on 0114 2508048.

Edinburgh Libraries get help with their old photographs

A public appeal by The City of Edinburgh Council for help identifying old photographs of Edinburgh has enjoyed an overwhelming response.

Edinburgh City Libraries hold a vast collection of archive material illustrating the city’s distant and recent past and every day their expert staff help members of the public to use the resources to explore their own personal history or to find out where their ancestors lived.

Now the service is appealing for amateur sleuths to help them make the collection even better by publicising dozens of mystery photographs. The appeal has already generated widespread media coverage, in both the local press and online via Flickr.

In addition, the quest was featured on STV’s The Hour programme yesterday, after which the appeal’s dedicated flickr page received more than 3,000 hits (compared to just under 200 the day before).

Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture and Leisure Convener, thanked everyone who has come forward with information about the photographs. She said: “Since we launched the appeal, we’ve been amazed by the response we’ve had. Already, three images have been positively identified, and we’ve got promising leads on several others. This campaign asks people to take a trip down memory lane and helps us build up our Edinburgh collection at the same time. Every positive lead we get will greatly enrich both our physical archive and the digital treasure trove that is Capital Collections, providing invaluable resources to be enjoyed by future generations to come.”

Watch Central Library’s Susan Varga on The Hour (scroll to 14:20).

The mystery photos can be found on the Tales of One City flickr photostream and also here…..

The Edinburgh collection is housed in the Central Library on George IV Bridge. Opening hours: Mon-Thu 10am-8pm; Fridays 10am-5pm; Saturdays 9am-1pm.
Telephone 0131 242 8000

Portrait of the Queen to be unveiled at Holyrood this week

The first portrait of Her Majesty The Queen to be displayed at the Scottish Parliament will be unveiled by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal on Wednesday 16 March.

Winning photographer Shaun Murawski, 24, will attend the unveiling of his portrait in the Main Hall of the Parliament.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body agreed to commission the portrait last January after receiving a recommendation by the Parliament’s Art Advisory Group. Shaun was then picked as the winner out of a shortlist of talented young photographers by a panel of judges that included award-winning photographer Harry Benson CBE and members of the Parliament’s Art Advisory Group (AAG).

Renowned Scottish photographer Harry Benson CBE mentored Shaun throughout the project as well as guiding him during the actual photo shoot at Holyrood Palace and said: “I think it’s wonderful that the Scottish Parliament had the idea of having a competition to choose a young photographer living in Scotland to photograph Her Majesty The Queen.

“What a unique opportunity and privilege and Shaun rose to the occasion. I am honoured to be associated with the endeavour.”

When asked about the portrait, Mr Murawski said: “I still feel hugely grateful to be given such an opportunity at my age. Both working with and being mentored by Harry Benson was a unique experience and an honour.

“I would like to thank everyone – friends, family and complete strangers who have given kind words, wishes and support, thank you.

“I’d also like to thank everyone at the Scottish Parliament and The Palace, without their help the final image wouldn’t have been possible, or so enjoyable in achieving.

“For me the portrait captures what a moment in Her Majesty’s company feels like. She is an extraordinary human being in all her benevolence and warmth.”

Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson MSP said: “I am very much looking forward to welcoming Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to the Scottish Parliament to unveil this impressive portrait.”

“The official portrait unveiling comes after months of difficult decision making from the judging panel and hard work from Shaun. Shaun is an exciting talent in Scottish photography, and his portrait of Her Majesty The Queen will be a fantastic addition to the Parliament’s art collection.

“The portrait will hang in the Main Public Hall, where visitors to the Parliament will be able to come in and view it for years to come.”

Robin Harper MSP, Chair of the Art Advisory Group said: “The Art Group is very happy to be present at the official unveiling tomorrow. It has been an exciting and interesting journey, and I really hope the opportunity to view this portrait will encourage more people to visit the Parliament.

“We met a number of extremely talented young photographers who I am sure will have a distinguished career ahead of them. I would like to thank everyone involved, those from within the Parliament, but especially those from outside of the Parliament who have put both time and energy into this project.”

Background

As part of the events and activities delivered to commemorate the Scottish Parliament’s 10th anniversary in 2009, the Parliament decided to commission an official portrait of Her Majesty The Queen.

The commission panel was chaired by Robin Harper MSP and also comprised Harry Benson CBE, Scottish Parliament Art Advisory Group members Ted Brocklebank MSP, Patricia Ferguson MSP, Ian McKee MSP, Jeremy Purvis MSP , and poet and playwright Liz Lochhead – Scotland’s Makar. The SPCB was represented on the panel by its member Tricia Marwick MSP. Andrew Cowan, Parliament Photographer and Fiona McDougall, Art Curator/Exhibitions Manager were also on the panel.

Mr Benson has taken portraits of previous presiding officers Sir David Steel and George Reid, which are now part of the Parliament’s Art Collection.

Glasgow-born Mr Benson, who now lives in America, gained international acclaim for his photos documenting various political events and his portraits of well-known personalities including Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Barack Obama and The Beatles. He was awarded the CBE in the New Years Honours List 2009 for his services to photography.

Photos Capital Press Agency

Edinburgh’s Young Photographers – competition for you!

Calling Edinburgh’s hottest young photographic talent – a new Europe-wide competition aims to showcase the continent’s best young photographers as part of the EUROCITIES ‘Your City – your view’ project.

The City of Edinburgh Council’s Arts Development Team has joined forces with EUROCITIES to invite Edinburgh’s aspiring Harry Bensons to enter this exciting contest. Harry Benson always seemed to be at the scene of many notable moments in history. He has photographed every US President from Eisenhower to Obama, and his work was displayed at The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2006-07.

Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture and Leisure Convener, said: “Our Arts Development Team have been working closely with EUROCITIES on this project, which will give Edinburgh’s finest young photographers an unmissable opportunity to make their work accessible to a potentially vast audience right across Europe. I’m really looking forward to seeing the entries as they come in and there’s no doubt the panel will have a very difficult task selecting just one image to go forward.”

Nicola Vatthauer, EUROCITIES Communications Director, said: “The EUROCITIES ‘Your City – your view’ project is a fantastic opportunity to broaden our understanding of the way young people interact with their cities across our network of 30 countries. We’re delighted that Edinburgh is participating and look forward to seeing the contribution from this key partner.”

Entrants must submit up to three images which show a different view of Edinburgh – and the organisers have stated that they don’t want the usual promotional shots, for example fireworks or skylines.

The theme of the ‘Your City – your view’ book is to illustrate ‘people and place’. Images could be based around themes such as:

- changes in the city which have affected you
- thoughts you have about your local neighbourhood
- an expression of the uniqueness of Edinburgh

A panel of judges will evaluate all the Edinburgh competition entries before selecting one image to share with our European neighbours.

The winning photo from this competition will represent Edinburgh in this book and the winning photographer will receive a copy of this book and be included in publicity to promote it.

Entrants must be aged between 15 and 25 and must be resident in Edinburgh.

Images must be 20x30cm in 300 dpi resolution, colour, or black & white (reproduction rights conceded to EUROCITIES).

Images can either be uploaded to the competition Flickr site or emailed to edinburghartsdevelopment@gmail.com

Entries should be accompanied by a short description (100 to 150 words) explaining where and why the photo was taken, as well as the entrant’s name and age.

The competition closes on Wednesday 20 April 2011 and the panel, comprising curators and arts officers, will notify the winner by 6 May 2011.

Photos of New Year in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is as we know a very photogenic city – as shown here by the lovely photos from Markus Stitz, who you may remember was cycling home for Christmas (more of that later!). In the meantime he has returned to Bonnie Scotland and has put up photos from the last two or three days which we share with you here.

Markus has his own blog which you can access by clicking this link.

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