Art & Design
Central Library
George IV Bridge | Edinburgh | EH1
In 2022 the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art presented an exhibition of Barbara Hepworth's drawings, paintings and sculptures. As part of the display they had a publication called "CIRCLE : International Survey of Constructive Art" from 1937. In it, on pages 113-118, is an article by Hepworth with photographic illustrations of her sculptures. Some of Hepworth's most recognisable works contain the circle motif - as a body, an eye, an aperture.
"...CIRCLE proposed not only to bring the then new constructist ideas to the attention of the general public but also to give their major exponents ' the means of expressing their views and of maintaining contact with each other, to provide a medium for the interchange of ideas.'" CIRCLE, Introduction 1971
A social circle for those interested in Constructive Art ideas and theories. Edinburgh LoFi is a social circle - with ideas, concepts and techniques circulating around the group.
While some of the works in this exhibition are inspired by the perfect form of the circle as described by geometry, others look to the myriad of meanings associated with the shape. Ending and beginning at the same place - the circular walking route followed in lockdown, a zen meditation around the centre. Enclosing and arranging - circles of friends and colleagues gathered for a purpose. Defensive , protective, time wasting, inescapable or complete - a circle can suggest them all.
"There is no outside, no inclosing wall, no circumference to us. " R W Emerson
Edinburgh LoFi is a Traditional, Alternative and Logographic photography collective that has been running for 14 years. Our twice monthly meetings have continued throughout the lockdowns, moving online. We now run hybrid meetings each month - one online and one (or more!) in person for photochat, photowalks and workshops. All welcome, please look at our website or email info@edinburghlofi.com to find out more.
Look out for our Pinhole Day photowalk on the 30th of April.
Scroll down to see each persons work.
Click the persons name below to find out more about them
Four pinhole camera exposures of the structures formed by the circling sea and the tides of the East coast.
Polaroids showing bubbles elongating and solidifying under ice
Cyanotypes with additional watercolour details exploring the ideas of circular migration routes.
" I have taken rather a literal interpretation of "Circles " but using my favourite material, ie garden plants, in this case dried crocus leaves. These extra fine pliable leaves were coaxed into tied circles revealing filaments as fine as human hair, much to my surprise! All images were solar exposed and all are unique"
"I have been pursuing film and darkroom photography for many years. I work with a variety of formats and processes to achieve the effects I need. Here are three images using different approaches."
1.An “in camera” image of a pocket watch. The Ilford Gallerie paper was exposed in a 5x4 camera, developed and fixed. It is a negative, which somehow seems to work very well.
2. A cyanotype image of a mosaic found in a Victorian shop entrance. First it was made on 35mm film, which was developed and scanned. A large format digital negative was then made and contact printed on to Hahnemühle Sumi-e cold pressed paper. (A digital negative is a negative image printed onto a transparency film using an inkjet printer). An ultraviolet light source was used. Cyanotypes date from 1842.
3. A salt print image of a clock and winter trees. As above, the image was made on 35mm film, developed and scanned, and made into a large digital negative. Using cold pressed Bockingford watercolour paper, coated with salt, then silver nitrate, and contact printed with an ultraviolet source. Salt prints were common in the 1840s and 1850s.
Gregg McNeill is a photographer, whose interests lie in the Victorian era processes.
These 5x4 Wetplate Collodion Tintype images are part of a series of objects in quiet seclusion. The series is a meditation on singular objects and thoughts. They are presented in a black void, outside of context and meaning.
Image 1 (bird)
Momento Tempus Mori - A tiny bird once told me that time is fleeting and that we will all die someday...
Image 2 (gear)
Tempus Fragmentum - We break down time into ever fewer segments, but it still passes without regard for our hopes and fears…
Image 3 (key)
Momento Clausa - Locking away some memories can keep the Night Wolves at bay...
I have had an interest in alternative photography for a number of years with cyanotype being consistently my favourite technique.
I have a used a circular based template for some of the images. The other two are based on the times I seem to make images of the most - keys and ferns.
I have been dabbling in film photography over the last few years, taking photos with a plastic Diana F+ camera, learning how to process film and make prints in the darkroom.
I visited the Barbara Hepworth exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art several times last year and loved her sculptures and paintings. This series of cyanotypes uses geometric shapes inspired by paintings in the exhibition. I built up shapes on the photogram using tracing paper and due to the lack of sunshine in the Scottish winter, exposed the chemically coated paper to a UV light source. I enjoy the unpredictability and alchemy of making cyanotypes and love the rich blue colours that are produced.
My intention for CIRCLE was to let photographs find me while I walked a circular route that started and finished at the same place. However, what I ended up doing amounted to a bit of a mad meander that traced a wonky shape about town. Still, it was a good day out and I enjoyed the fresh air.
Limited edition of square film prints.
Trying to be environmentally conscious - but ordering to sit in - there are no normal cups available, and they must have a lid to travel 1m to a table... Chemigrams presented on circular takeout coffee cup lids. Recycling in a way.
During the lockdown periods I read widely, trying to make some sense of it all and reach some sort of calm and acceptance. While I did not reach that goal, reviewing old darkroom work and transforming it through cuts rather than drawing did allow for some reflection.
"In Zen, an ensō is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. The ensō symbolises absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and mu (the void)."
BA(Hons) Fine Art, Prof Member SSA.
"My photographs shown here, do not have a common theme other than the Circle, and being serendipitous. They are a visual collection of observations, small events and wanderings....."
These images are close-ups of Vitamin C crystals forming on glass slides, taken through the microscope lens.
I was amazed at the (often circular!) shapes and colours expanding and quickly changing on the slides. The resulting pictures struck me as being grainy survey snaps of strange, ephemeral landscapes.
The crystal formations also altered depending on the heat applied - hence the title.
Photocopies of the images were then placed onto thick art paper using the gel transfer process.
These final prints are therefore copies of copies, which mirrors the process of memory - like a dream recalled.
Photos taken 2017 printed 2023.
Photographer / Film Maker / Creativity Facilitator / Scottish Political Activist
and
a founding member of Edinburgh LoFi.
She will be missed and remembered by us all.
Amazing Mary
