Stills: Centre for Photography

Stills is a public photography gallery and production facility based in the heart of Edinburgh. Established in 1977, we have a long history of supporting the advancement, enjoyment, exploration and understanding of photography in Scotland. Our analogue and digital photography production facilities are open year-round and we programme an annual series of exhibitions and events showcasing everything from new talent to material from archives and collections and work by established artists from around the world. Each year, we run the Stills School, a free, alternative photography school for 16-25 year-olds that experience barriers to accessing the arts.

Reviewers:

Ben Harman is the Director of Stills, Edinburgh where his curated exhibitions have included presentations from archives and collections as well displays of new talent in photography from Scotland. His curated solo exhibitions have included showcases of work by Lewis Baltz, Robin Gillanders, Ishiuchi Miyako, Cindy Sherman and Jo Spence. From 2003-13, Ben was Curator of Contemporary Art for Glasgow Museums where he curated numerous temporary exhibitions and collection displays for the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). He was Lead Curator for Glasgow’s Art Fund International collecting project from 2007-12.

David Grinly is an artist and lecturer based in Edinburgh. His artistic output is the practical working of his research at the intersections of photography, philosophy and theology. Offering a critique of Western aesthetic histories, David’s work uses the photographic to frame contemporary approaches to belief and the collapse of the political. Initially teaching across photographic disciplines, David is now predominantly involved in teaching Critical Studies and the philosophies related to photography. David’s technical expertise is weighted more toward the digital than the analogue darkroom, although many of the skills of lighting etc are transferable.

Sean Patrick Campbell is the Communications Manager at Stills, and he is an artist living and working in Glasgow. He works predominantly in analogue photography practices, although this spills out into writing, moving image and sculpture. He mostly uses photographic processes as ritual, seeking a gateway to the spiritual through the material. He uses the lens to interrogate the intersection of ecologies of landscape and mythologies – personal, cultural and political. Above all he is fascinated by photography – what it hides and what it reveals. Sean was part of the Hospitalfield New Graduate Residency Programme 2021, has had recent exhibitions at Goodyear Arts, North Carolina and Flow Photofest in Thurso, and has an upcoming show at Project Rooms Glasgow in December 2022 with artist Morwenna Kearsley.

Morwenna Kearsley is Glasgow-based photographer. She likes to photograph objects, from museum artefacts and personal effects to discarded scraps and draped fabrics. Her photographs and writing are often informed by analogue processes and by the practised set of actions employed when at work in a darkroom. She studied for a BA(Hons) in Photography, Film & Imaging at Edinburgh Napier University, graduating in 2007. With the support of a Leverhulme Scholarship for Fine Art, she received an MFA from The Glasgow School of Art in 2015. She often collaborates with other artists and non-artists via workshops, evening classes and community arts projects.