'Hot Scot' Exhibition

 

Last week I finally got a chance to visit the Portrait Gallery after its recent face lift and I was impressed. I have always loved the galleries in Edinburgh and I would definitely recommend a visit. I went with a group of girl friends who all study fashion and some fashion photography specifically so it was no surprise that the two exhibitions we were most looking forward to were 'The Hot Scot' exhibition and the 'Romantic Camera' exhibition both of which have been open since December and will be until June.

'The Hot Scot' exhibition features the current stars of Scottish culture from Devid Tennent to John Kitchin in a series of portraits. I was especially looking forward to seeing the portraits by Albert Watson one of my favourite Scottish fashion photographers.

If I am honest I was slightly disappointed as I expected a larger collection but it was still very interesting to see. For such a small collection there was plenty of variety in portrait style; some had a 'watercolour painting' like appearance which I do not really like when it comes to photographs, I prefer a more lifelike portraits though my favourite was the picture of John Byrne the artist and director as it was realistic, showing deep emotion while still showing theatrical elements in his pose and appearance.

The second exhibition was the Romantic camera exhibition, a series of large scale photographs in the style of the Romantic era. Familiar scenes like Glencoe were featured and although not all beautiful they were impressive. It is always interesting to see the different ways of using photography as a medium especially when I am constantly bombarded with fashion it is nice to be reminded of other forms (though let’s be honest nothing beats fashion photography).

The galley itself has a lot to see and worth a visit even just to take in the atmosphere of the new space.

(All images sourced from Google images)