Scotland’s Photograph Album | The MacKinnon Collection

About

This exhibition celebrates an unparalleled collection of Scottish photography recently acquired and shared by the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. The photographs were amassed by collector Murray MacKinnon and represent Scottish life and identity from the 1840s through the 1940s – a century of dramatic transformation and innovation.

The chronicle of Scotland’s culture during the mid-19th to early 20th centuries is inseparable from its leading role in the early history of photography itself. Many of the first practitioners and visionaries who impelled the medium forward were based in Scotland or were inspired by Scottish subjects. The exhibition includes photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Thomas Annan, Roger Fenton, George Washington Wilson, and others who created stunning images of Scotland’s people and places during the 19th century and established precedents for photographers worldwide.