2 minute read

Moving Images

Petra Eriksson Illustration

Edinburgh Park commissioned illustrator Petra Eriksson to produce designs which have been digitally wrapped on the trams which travel from the City Centre, through Edinburgh Park and on to Edinburgh Airport. Born in Stockholm and based in Barcelona Petra brings an international dimension to the artists making new work for Edinburgh Park. Her bright colours and bold graphic imagery reference the city’s historic architectural landmarks and respond to Edinburgh Park’s design values. The illustration brief has evolved from the brand development work by dn&co which aims to challenge perceptions and capture the culture, feeling and vibe of the future Edinburgh Park.

The brand strategy sets out values around the key benefits of the development including:

PROGRESSIVE: A forward thinking approach to living and working with wellness and sustainability at the fore.

EXPRESSIVE: Characterful and vibrant environment with beautiful landscapes and public art.

HUMAN: A people focussed approach to the office and residential community.

Ben Harman Stills Gallery

BEN HARMAN

Stills Gallery

Photography was pioneered in Scotland in the 19th Century. Scientists and artists based in Scotland, most notably in Edinburgh and St Andrews, were amongst the earliest experimenters and practitioners of the medium. They were in correspondence (and competition) with others around the world. Since that time, photography from Scotland has been consistently rich with talent. Photographers have made a key contribution to Scotland’s world-renowned reputation in the field of contemporary visual arts.

Stills opened in 1977 with a mission to exhibit the work of home-grown talent and to bring the work of celebrated photographers to Scotland for the first time. In its early years, Stills introduced Scottish audiences to the pictures of Paul Strand, Diane Arbus and Robert Frank to name just a few. Since relocating to Cockburn Street, Edinburgh in the 1990s, Stills has been able to take its ambitions further. Alongside a year-round exhibition and education programme, we offer photographic production facilities and training. People of all ages and abilities come to Stills to use our darkrooms and digital suites and we are equipped to provide teaching on all practical and theoretical aspects of photography.

Providing opportunities for early-career photographers is key for the future practice and development of the medium. For this reason, we are extremely pleased to be working with Parabola and Andy Mather on the Edinburgh Park Residency and to support Andy through the different stages of his ambitious project. This opportunity, for a commissioned photographer to document the changing character of a city, is not without precedent in Scotland (one thinks of Oscar Marzaroli’s Glasgow or Joseph McKenzie’s Dundee, for example) but it is rare. To understand the value of documentary photography in this way and to welcome the insights of an artist during the process of redefining the way we live and work in an area of the city, will inevitably have lasting benefits for generations to come.

Andy Mather

EDINBURGH PARK’S PHOTOGRAPHER IN RESIDENCE