23/07/13
Document Scotland
Scotland has a long
tradition of documentary photography, reaching back as far as Thomas
Annan (1829-1887), John Thompson (1837-1921), and Hill and Adamson (partners
from 1843-1848). Amongst others, these pioneers set out many of the founding
principles of the genre which pertain to this day. In addition to these
Scottish natives, many a celebrated international photographer has also paid
homage to the country and its inhabitants, including Paul Strand (1890-1976),
with his timeless images from the northwest fringes in the 1930s, and Martin
Parr (born 1952), with his more recent work along the A8 Corridor, west of Glasgow.
It is against this impressive backdrop that, in 2012, four
contemporary Scots-born documentary photographers – Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Colin McPherson, Stephen
McLaren and Sophie Gerrard – came together to form the collective, Document
Scotland.
To read the rest of this essay, please go to: http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/2013/07/document-scotland/