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Subcribe to comment rss feedA rare collaboration of three creative Scottish Landscape Photographers
Dylan Nardini
Dylan Nardini is a landscape photographer based in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Practising photography for over 30 years he has focused on shooting the outdoors since 2014, both in his local and national landscape. Widely published,, he was also the winner of 2021 British Photography Awards Landscape category and The Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year overall winner 2021. A family man, when he’s not found shooting the landscape with his Nikon D850, Sony RX100ii or many film cameras, he also drives freight trains.
‘That Other Landscape’ is a rare collaboration of three creative Scottish Landscape Photographers showcasing their work in a touring exhibition. The aim is to find out if there can be a space within the ‘art world’ for photography to share the walls as a variant medium rather than a foreign entity.
Photography will always be exhibited in galleries but rarely alongside paintings, sculpture, installations etc. and often only as a body of work, sharing a message or story as a complete collection and usually with an accompanying book. This is ultimately an ambition of most Landscape Photographers, and that’s no different to that of Dylan Nardini, Grant Bulloch and David Queenan either, the three collaborators of this contemporary project.
The work of a landscape photographer involves many years of dedication, development as an artist and endless education. Not to mention the hours spent travelling in the outdoors in all conditions, waiting around for the right moment, exploring a subject to get that jigsaw of a composition to fit together and then the never-ending journeys to the same location to capture that moment they have envisaged in their heads. Then there’s the art of processing and printing that many will argue is just as important, if not more so, than the capture itself. This can be neglected when a photograph is presented on a wall, the perception often places the emphasis more on the capture of that moment in time and its apparent ease to the non-photographer. Ultimately the aim of ‘That Other Landscape’ is to smash this juxtaposition and attempt to inform those unaware that the artistic mind of a landscape photographer is no different to that of an artist in front of their easel with their choice of tool that creates their vision or ‘art’.
This new venture is trying to encourage traditional art galleries to feel comfortable in placing photographs alongside oil paintings, acrylics, watercolours or etchings, confident that they share the same artistic value with no less uniqueness than those mediums do with each other.
‘That Other Landscape’ has been created by Grant Bulloch, who had the initial idea of putting together a travelling exhibition with a few other photographers. He contacted David and then Dylan to get their thoughts on progressing with the concept. Over the last few years, Grant has travelled to a number of small galleries around Scotland to float the idea with them, and it wasn’t long before they had their first booking.
Natalie at the Smithy Gallery in Blanefield, just north of Glasgow, was immediately intrigued by Grants’ pitch. In her 18 years of showing exhibitions in the beautiful, converted blacksmiths building with all its charming character, she had never held a photography exhibition. Her intrigue was also naturally accompanied by trepidation as she stepped into the unknown, unaware of how her long list of customers would take to this innovative show.
Being written midway through this first show, it is safe to say Natalie need not have worried, as she has been overwhelmed by its success and the response so far with sales, visitors and the positive feedback it has generated. This is a small step for the project, using the experience of each show as they pass, will be hugely beneficial to its future success. Gaining positive reviews from previous gallery owners will make convincing others to take that leap in their space easier as word spreads. So, to Natalie, the collaborators are hugely thankful for having faith in the project.
The Exhibition
Using each of their own unique visual perceptions of their surroundings and often visited landscape, the three photographers have put together a diverse and dynamic collection, showcasing their creative personalities with a variation of styles and subjects.
On show are these distinct styles and interpretations, taken from the intimate to the wider landscape, which share the space on the old stone walls of this historical building. Their work ranges from the iconic grand vistas of the mountain landscapes with snow-bound hills, unexpected ethereal light and clearing storms to the detailed minutiae found in the outdoor environment – fallen leaves, lone trees, cherry blossom, the usually unseen decay and colour of a rusting hull of a harbour yacht and even small polaroid emulsion lifts pulling the viewer into its small world of intrigue. There is texture, feeling, emotion, and storytelling to be found as you walk around the gallery viewing the exquisitely printed pieces which have seen the support of Fotospeed, who were thrilled to help by providing their expertise and archival fine art papers.
Dylan Nardini
Art runs in Dylan’s family. Both his father and sister are accomplished artists, but Dylan chose to pick up the camera instead of the brush. His love of the outdoors led him to become one of the most talented landscape photographers in the UK. He won both the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year Award and the British Photography Awards Landscape Category in 2021.
Revisiting familiar locations is a recurring theme of Dylan’s work. The knowledge of how familiar places change with the seasons and the micro climate have made a huge impact on his photography as he returns time after time to the less clichéd and honey pot locations. In many cases you would struggle to recognise the locations of his work.
As well as his digital work, Dylan often returns to traditional film photography, using both 35mm and medium format cameras. He feels this allows him to slow down when in the field and to relish the uncertainty and anticipation of what he has captured. This uncertainty is only revealed once he has processed the film, which could be weeks later. Dylan also uses Polaroid as a way to mix film with instant viewing, almost like a hybrid of the two disciplines. By creating emulsion lifts that he transfers to watercolour paper, the way he presents his Polaroid work is therefore quite distinctive. The uncertainty of the finished art then becomes a huge part of this process, as there is no guarantee the emulsion lifts will transfer in one piece or without damage, but this in turn is the attraction to Dylan.
Grant Bulloch
Grant is an architect and designer who has travelled extensively throughout Scotland. He began that journey climbing the Scottish Munros (mountains over 3000 feet) while studying at Edinburgh University in the 1980s and completed them within 20 years, a feat which exposed him to almost all of his country’s scenery and triggered a love of the Highland landscape and culture. Instead of regularly bagging summits he now takes his camera and often documents the relationship between the landscape and the weather around him, sometimes chasing storms and actively searching out how the landscape interacts with what nature throws at it. The pursuit of light is compelling, and his favourite light is undoubtedly that which emerges in the aftermath of a passing storm.
His work “Aberfeldy Snowstorm” was the result of waiting for a cold front to hit whilst in the Birks of Aberfeldy in Perthshire.
“We climbed to the top of the glen hoping to be there to meet the forecasted incoming snow, but it was on our way down that the first flurries appeared. I was still able to shoot across the “Birks” towards the lichen covered trees as they swayed and moved in the snow laden winds.” The resultant image feels more like a tapestry than a photograph. It is the first signed limited edition print of only five on beautifully textured Fotospeed Cotton Etching archival paper.
Although some of his works are typical examples of the “grand vistas” of the landscape, featuring locations such as Assynt, Glencoe and the Northumberland coast, at the other end of the spectrum he investigates the textures and patterns of a rock cut basin in the Cairngorms and the rusty hulls of yachts lifted up out of the water and overwintering on the harbour walls of East Lothian. Considering that the project “That Other Landscape” was initially conceived amongst the yachts at Musselburgh harbour, it was fitting that some of them feature in the exhibition. Grant has been commended in the UK Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition twice, was a finalist in the British Photography Awards in 2022 and 2023, and has been shortlisted in the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition every year from 2017 to 2022.
David Queenan
Whilst David Queenan is more mainstream in his artistic output, he has amassed a huge portfolio of work over the years and collected a similar number of accolades, initially winning the Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year competition in 2015 and then, more recently, the 2023 Wex Photographer of the Year competition. Alongside these awards, he has been annually recognised in both the Scottish and UK Landscape Photographer of the Year competitions and was the runner up in the former on one occasion. This catalogue of success has made him one of the most consistent and respected landscape photographers in the country.
His consistency can be put down to many things, but one of the most important is knowing his locality. Based on the south shore of the River Forth, he seldom strays far from sight of the water, and many of his images are based around the iconic and less well-known structures that interact with it. The Forth Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing are two obvious subjects. Further upstream, the Wallace Monument features, too, sitting above the bends of the river, while downstream, North Berwick and its harbour area is also a regular haunt. However, a lesser-known pier, less than ten minutes walk from his house, has been his most popular subject since lockdown. Carriden Pier, a little wooden structure jutting out a few metres from the shore, has been subject to the vagaries of the weather, and David has documented its fate religiously as it slowly decays with each passing storm. Many of his loyal followers have even suggested it should be renamed after him!
David’s other images on show include his work taken around the shores of Loch Awe, Loch Rusky and in the Trossachs, however some of his most talked about photographs are a series of small prints taken in his home town of Bo’ness. 'Trolley Trio' features a number of abandoned shopping trolleys half embedded in the silt of the harbour.
Future Events
The show will remain at Smithy Gallery until June 1, 2024, when it will move to Eleven41 Gallery, Kingussie, in the Scottish Highlands, opening on June 28th and running until July 14th.
Eleven41 Gallery is owned and curated by photographer Ed Smith and is a photographic gallery mainly dedicated to adventure. So, this will be another valuable lesson for the collaborators, whereas a complete contrast to the previous show, will, on this occasion, see the galleries regular customers are used to viewing photography, where Ed exhibits his own images on the whole, dedicated to adventure and mostly found in the nearby Cairngorm mountains. There will also be talks by each of the photographers, including Q&A opportunities, providing something different and enhancing the experience of the patrons each weekend of the show.
More venues are in the pipeline and will be announced on the group’s website in due course www.thatotherlandscape.uk