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DR ALEX BOYD FSA(Scot) is a photographer, academic and writer who grew up on the west coast of Scotland. His work has been widely exhibited internationally with solo exhibitions at the Scottish Parliament, as well as group exhibitions at the Royal Academy, the Royal Ulster Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy. His work is held in the collections of the National Galleries of Scotland, the Royal Photographic Society, the Royal Scottish Academy, the V&A and the Yale Centre for British Art in the US. His first book, St Kilda: The Silent Islands, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book Award in 2018. He spent several years living on the Isle of Lewis.

Alex Boyd

Ayrshire & Argyll

Describe your practice
I use photography as a means of exploring and interrogating our relationship with the landscape. From documenting military installations, to trying to dismantle romantic conceptions of Scotland, I feel photography has an important role in challenging the assumptions we make about the places we choose to inhabit. 

Why analogue?
I have always been interested in the act of making rather than taking an image, and analog techniques and processes are an important part of this approach. From trying to get closer to early practitioners by adopting their methods, such as calotype, cyanotype and wet-plate collodion, making an image with my hands with chemicals in the field (or in the darkroom) introduces an element that I have not yet found with digital photography. Through learning these alternative processes I'm also introducing an element of play into my practice, reminding myself that photography can be great fun - otherwise why would we do it?

What do you hope t

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