Art & Design
Central Library
George IV Bridge | Edinburgh | EH1
Each photograph holds a fragment of time and space, a sliver of light fixing a fragment of our experience.
"Photography makes one conscious of beauty everywhere, even in the simplest things, even in what is often considered commonplace or ugly. Yet nothing is really 'ordinary’, for every fragment of the world is crowned with wonder and mystery, and a great and surprising beauty. " Alvin Langdon Coburn
The Fragmented Self can refer to these parts experienced, a record of our actions, of events, of places that have shaped us. We use photography to remember but also to rewrite ourselves, sometimes only adding the 'best bits' to the shared collective.At other times we record what is painful, what is passing, what we hold dear. As prints on fragile pieces of paper we pass these memories through generations.
Edinburgh LoFi is a Traditional, Alternative and Logographic photography collective that has been running for 15 years. Our twice-monthly meetings are open to all - 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 28th of April at Saughton Park.
Our next exhibition in November/December will be on the theme CONSTRUCT - email to find out how to submit works.
Scroll down to see each person's work.
Click the person's name below to find out more about them
Group Olive Dean Brittonie Fletcher Graeme Lyall Gregg McNeill Ali Millar Jenni O'Sullivan Graeme Pow Elaine Robson Judith Rowan Mary Gordon
The group played a game of instant consequences with a polaroid camera and ourselves at one of our regular meet-ups.
Solargraph (5x4 pinhole) cameras were left for over 50 weeks - here are the results!
♥ Libraries ♥ are treasure troves of information - little fragments of other people waiting to be accessed by all. They are places of life long-learning, future-proofing us with access to new technology and preserving past information. They allow individual contemplation as well as community engagement and social connections.
Find out more about solargraphs - Solargraphy 2012 (PDF 3Mb)
" This photographer opted to not to take a literal interpretation: instead, images of two favourite trees serve as metaphor for the "fragmented self".
Generally, women have tended to divide and share their adult lives: career or job, often with years of child-rearing ,(although choice of being a parent is more often an option nowadays) and the care of others mainly in later life.
Not everyone proves strong; sometimes a burden is too overwhelming and people give in to outside forces and eventually fall.
Trees are majestic and magnificent. Even in decay, when grandeur has gone, welcome long term shelter is provided for wildlife etc. For the artist or any nature lover, their beauty continues to delight us in their wonderful twisted shapes."
Mounted on the artist's own handmade paper with fragments of botanicals.
Naming something defines parameters for perception. It informs as well as limits what it can or cannot be.
In learning how to print colour in the darkroom I was told "what a good print looks like" and that I'm supposed to throw away the test strips. I always found these test strip collages far more interesting than the "good print of the whole image". The image is incomplete and separated from the subject and initial intention behind taking it. While removing the specificity there is a consistency that remains. My moody ass. I am now as I was then. 2007.
"G* all in Pieces"
This is a cyanolumen: Ilford Gallerie silver gelatine photographic paper coated with cyanotype chemistry, with a little help from turmeric and exposed to a UV source. Then washed, fixed, and washed again. As often the case, colour suffers in the fixing stage, which however unless for display in the very short term, is essential. The shards were the result of cutting up a 5"x4" black and white negative - it was a self portrait - then laid on the paper between two layers of cling film.
Gregg McNeill is a photographer, whose interests lie in the Victorian era processes.
"We all live a fractured life, a life in pieces, a life more akin to a tin of buttons spilled out over a table than the ordered story that we would imagine our lives to be.
In 2002, a movie called “Waking Life” proposed that if we spend half our lives asleep and dreaming, how is that life any less relevant than our waking life?
We all have dreams every night. We will forget well over half of them.
I’ve thought about this a lot.
Is the recurring dream life that I live every night, that I only remember in flickers and flashes, any less important than the life I lead when I’m awake?
What if the truths that I learn in this dream life could help my waking one and I just keep forgetting them?
What if we could remember all of our dreams and truths?
Would we really be better off?
What if we weren’t meant to remember them at all?"
The first 2 pieces of work are based on a chemigram of the artists hand. These have been digital altered - making them more stark and minimalist - and so fragmented it is hard to identify the original image.
The artists favourite alternative photography medium is cyanotype, with keys being a favourite theme. Keys are so universal, but endlessly different and as a result fascinating. These images attempt to fragment a familiar item.
The 1st Image is cyanotype, the other cyanotype tinted with tea and the final is a combination of both techniques. " 
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"I explored the theme of Fragmented Self by making pinhole self-portraits with my Diana F+ camera. I changed position during the long exposure, resulting in ghostly double images. The use of expired, scratched black and white film adds to the somewhat surreal aesthetic. "
"The two cyanotypes are photograms made on paper which was coated in light-sensitive chemicals, then exposed to ultraviolet light."
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Cut, burned, and shredded, Graeme’s unusual portraits explore the internal struggle between one’s calm demeanour and the fiery emotions that lie beneath, questioning the nature of identity. An old self-portrait provides the foundation for the Edinburgh-based artist’s latest series that literally portrays a fragmented self.
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"Family Fragments"
In considering the parts of myself I thought about how we are shaped by the DNA of those who come before us and the contributions to ourselves that chosen family make.
Faceted filters and vortoscopes have been used to rephotograph and reprint vintage photographs. A roll of film from a disposable camera has had each frame layered over the next while printing.
BA(Hons) Fine Art, Prof Member SSA.
"I chose the theme The Fragmented Self for the group show as much of my work shows shadows and reflections of me, but rarely the whole. My photographs are a visual collection of observations, small events and wanderings....."
Photographer / Film Maker / Creativity Facilitator / Scottish Political Activist
and
a founding member of Edinburgh LoFi.
She will be missed and remembered by us all.
A selection of Holga medium format photographs shown for the first time.
Fragments of self reflection.
