From x-rays to pagodas—Scottish photography isn’t (exclusively) tartan or covered in heather.
We’re home to over three million items of historical and cultural significance. Our world-class collection encompasses iconic objects and remarkable archives in the areas of photography, cinematography, television, sound and new media. Peek behind the scenes and discover some hidden treasures…
Surely Scottish photography would be photographs by Scots, of Scots, in Scotland, wouldn’t it? But of course nothing is ever straightforward, so why should Scottish photography be any different?
Iain Baird looks back at the launch of BBC2 50 years ago, and explains how Play School accidentally became the first successfully broadcast show on the new channel.
Talbot’s ‘picture book’ is a manifesto for photography, a polemic, an advertisement, a bid for posterity, a chronicle of the past and a vision of the future.
A visitor to the exhibition spotted herself in a Tony Ray-Jones photo. What will happen when Martin Parr’s Calder Valley work comes back to Yorkshire?
Image manipulation has been around longer than you might think—the compositing and shading techniques employed here were the precursors of Photoshop.
Iain Baird reveals the technology behind our latest television collection acquisition, and explains why the Scophony television scanner is not to be scoffed at.
While our politicians, papers and commentators fall on either side of the food bank debate, we look back at poverty and charitable welfare in the 1930s.
The Pararchive project’s research in our archives revealed images illuminating the history of Stoke-on-Trent, its factories and workers over four decades.
Ahead of his appearance on BBC Four tonight demonstrating ‘The Soldier’s Kodak’, Colin Harding reveals more about this 100-year-old compact camera.
As the unsettling images of the Ukraine crisis make their way to our TV screens, Brian Liddy is reminded of the first systematically photographed conflict.
Magnum Photographer David Hurn writes about his recent visit to our archives.