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Exhibition round up, photo trips and social media musings

That Other Landscape - how did it go?

The highlight of this year was undoubtedly the opportunity I had to exhibit my work alongside two top class photographers - Dylan Nardini and David Queenan. We originally had a couple of aims we wanted to explore. As the question "why do we take photographs?" came up a few times, i.e. was it just to post them on Facebook or Instagram and gather a few likes and comments on little screens, or could we get it seen by a different audience in different circumstances? So one obvious aim was to have our work printed and then we also agreed we wanted it to be treated the same as any other art, on a commercial basis in a proper gallery.

The exhibition "That Other Landscape" opened at the Smithy Gallery, a beautiful stone built fine art gallery in Blanefield near Glasgow, then a few weeks later we moved up to the Eleven41 Gallery in Kingussie. The venues were quite different. Smithy Gallery is used to more traditional art exhibitions and it was very unusual for it to include photography. Eleven41 Gallery is a dedicated landscape photographic gallery but seldom has outside artists on display. Each had their own challenges and benefits. 

So you might think that just turning up at the gallery with some of your favourite photos under your arm is all that’s required but nothing could be further from the truth. The seed of the idea was sown almost two years previously, and it took that length of time to come up with a plan, a name and a collection of images that we thought would work together, despite us all having slightly different styles. Oh and there was the small matter of finding a venue or gallery. I think you will find that turning up at your local art gallery and asking if you can display your work will get you a polite refusal. And sometimes not so polite. In fact I've heard of one response being along the lines of "Sorry, photography isn't art".

So credit has to be given to Natalie at Smithy Gallery for taking a chance on us and having the wisdom and foresight to immediately grasp at the opportunity. Although it was a little outside her comfort zone at first, she approached it with incredible enthusiasm and passion and she curated the exhibition with a real sense of understanding with regards our approach to whole concept. But even after the images had been chosen, there was a lot of work still to happen. The paper was kindly supplied by manufacturer Fotospeed and both David and Dylan were able to do the printing. We then had them framed locally. By far however the greatest amount of work involved promoting the exhibition. There is no point putting your work on the walls if no one comes to see it. Natalie had her own regular clientele and mailing list, but we also had to work hard ourselves, inviting friends and colleagues, getting press releases prepared and contacting journalists. It was a joint effort and it paid off. If you invite 100 people, you’ll be lucky to get 5 turning up so it’s easy to be disheartened but the opening event was well attended and people continued to trickle into the gallery over the course of the weeks.

  David Queenan, Grant Bulloch & Dylan Nardini

The biggest reason other photographers give us for not having their own exhibition is the cost. Now I accept that you need to pay for a lot up front but it’s worth looking at exactly what is involved. The biggest cost was the printing and the framing. For us the print costs were greatly reduced because we did the printing ourselves and the paper was, generally, free. The majority of the pieces were framed and for my 21 prints, the framing costs were £1200. Galleries take a large cut of any sale, and this has to be factored in when setting prices for the artwork. Photographers always undersell their art but you just can’t do that in a commercial gallery. The artists selling work in the exhibition after ours were pricing at anything between £400 and £2500, but previous exhibited works were selling for far more. And yes, they were selling very well – there are lots of people out there who have plenty of money and are looking to buy art. Our prices varied from £150 for very small (A5) prints to £750 for Dylan’s largest prints (A2+). I sold 5 framed prints and a few more unframed ones which I had in stock. As these had no additional cost to me, they actually made a difference as the profit margins were higher.

When we went up to Kingussie, I made the decision to only replace one piece of artwork sold at Smithy but between us we had plenty to fill the walls with. However sales there were much slower. It was too far from the central belt of Scotland for us to attract many people up through the door, and so we relied on the gallery to attract customers. A few of the regular locals came in, but although it was in summer, few visitors to the area made the effort. Maybe the weather was too good and they were all out enjoying the outdoors, but despite us getting an article on the BBC website, I only sold one large and a couple of smaller framed prints. The gallery also did not have an online shop, unlike the Smithy, which was selling work before the exhibition had even opened. However, all in all, I took in a total of £1700 between both exhibitions so enough to wash its face, as they say. That of course does not include all the hours (indeed days) of time taken to organise the exhibitions, and the travelling to and from the venues to make preparations. A full-time professional photographer would have to take those costs into consideration.

The choice of venue is of course very important. If you just want to get your work on a wall somewhere and be happy that the occasional passer-by drops in to admire your photographs, you’ll get a much greater choice of location. A café, visitor centre, even your local church hall would suffice, but the chances of someone coming along and buying something is greatly reduced. If you are in an art gallery then people generally come along to do one thing and that’s buy art. Artists put their work on walls to sell it, why shouldn’t photographers. Remember you are artists too.

We have had previous exhibitions of course. Andrew had his pop-up exhibition at Winton Castle many years ago when the venue fee was greatly reduced but he had to pay for all the printing and framing. He still made a healthy profit. In fact all the other exhibitions, whether at the Humbie Hub café or at the Dock Street Studios in Dundee made profits too. Not enough to retire on but enough to cover costs. So when photographers say they don’t have the money to pay for an exhibition but do have the money to buy that £1000 lens that they didn’t really need, I’m quick to point out the realities.

Of course exhibitions bring many other benefits. Your public profile is raised considerably, especially if you get BBC and newspaper articles. You get huge experience from printing so much of your work and the more you exhibit, the greater the chance other galleries will take you on. You also learn a lot from the whole experience, from concept through to installation.

In conclusion, we didn’t approach this with a view to making lots of money. It was never going to happen. We wanted to raise the public perception of landscape photography and prove that it can be exhibited in art galleries alongside the “traditional” arts. In that, I think, we succeeded.

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The Faroe Islands

In September for the first time in years both Andrew and I managed to go on a photo trip together and I also got to visit somewhere that I’d wanted to photograph for a while. The destination was the Faroe Islands. Situated between Shetland and Iceland, it’s a small archipelago of around 18 major islands and hundreds of smaller ones, with sheer cliffs and some really scary drops – the largest cliff is 750m high. Although it seems a long way off, its actually only 65 minutes by plane from Edinburgh and there are direct flights except for during the winter months.

It is of course a popular place, with photographers sometimes lined up at all the honeypot locations. Although we were going to visit most of them, I had hoped that the conditions would allow us to find photo opportunities all over the islands and we wouldn’t have to rely on the same compositions that everyone else gets. However the first couple of days were pretty overcast, although not as bad as the day we arrived when we didn’t even see the runway until we touched down. We thought we’d visit some waterfalls (ideal for dull days) but apparently it hadn’t rained for weeks so they were reduced to mere trickles. In the end we used our time to go exploring and see as much of the island as we could, in the hope the weather would improve.

It did improve, albeit we ended up with clear blue skies, which actually didn’t help much. At the famous Múlafossur waterfall, there was some water, but we timed it badly with the hillside behind us casting a diagonal shadow over the cliff. That’s why it’s better to get to know your locations first. We took some photos, but then went for a walk along the cliffs and through the nearby village. When we got back the clouds had rolled in and the scene was perfect, so we rushed off back to the spot that we were at before and retook all our photos again.

Many of the locations involve short walks, but the Faroese people have started to take advantage of the visitors and many landowners now charge for access. The walks to the lighthouse at Kallur and the lake at Trælanípa were around £20 each, but the walk to the famous view of the sea arch at Drangarnir requires a compulsory guide and a fee of £90, and you have to book in advance, regardless of the weather on the day. We decided the weather conditions didn’t warrant that extraordinary amount of money and we gave it miss. It’ll still be there another time.

Driving around the islands was so easy and nowhere was more than an hour away from our centrally located rental cottage. The exception was undoubtedly a trip over to the island of Kalsoy and the aforementioned lighthouse. It needed a 5am alarm, a 40 minute drive to Klaksvik and then a short ferry journey on the first boat over to be the first to the end of the road. The road, a single track for most part, took us through several unlit tunnels, some of which felt no wider than the car itself. We succeeded in getting to the lighthouse first, and getting our photos before the hordes arrived en-mass. We probably passed around 50 people that morning, adding up to £1000 a day for the landowner, and that was in September. What it must be like in the middle of summer I can’t imagine.

The weather was difficult to work with. As first timers there I reckon we did fairly well in guessing good locations for sunsets, but we still messed a up a couple of times, racing up the narrowest of roads, consisting of around 20 switchbacks, to reach the summit of Sornfelli just 5 minutes after the most glorious evening light had passed, or getting there to find thick cloud which never lifted. These are frustrations that every photographer knows well. The classic viewpoints of Klakkur and the hillside above Funningur did not disappoint and we soon realised why the honeypot locations are so popular. They are near the road, accessible on foot and look stunning.

The traditional museum of village houses at Saksun is another popular tourist spot. There’s a viewpoint above where you can look down over the village and sea inlet but once again the fences had been put up to keep people away, unless you paid the fee to enter the museum of course. Again, with harsh light, it wasn’t really worth it. There were posts and bollards and ropes everywhere as well, which would have meant hours of editing to take it all out - something I don't like doing and can't be bothered with. The walk out to the sea from there was much better and I’m sure I got some good photos – if I ever get them all edited I’ll find out.

On the final day we took a drive round towards the capital Torshavn. We originally had no intention of actually going there but in the end we had a look and I was glad we went for an explore to see the very picturesque harbour, the old town with its grassed roofs, and even the local who chatted to us and insisted on singing us a traditional Faroese song. Can’t get more original than that.

The only other local we bumped into was a crazy man in Kunoy, who was looking after his big rock and was feeling the energies. He insisted on getting his photo taken with his poor dog. Oh and I mustn’t forget fellow photographer and tour guide James Kelly whom we met at the airport and whose local knowledge was invaluable, especially the recommendation of the most expensive but best fish and chips I’ve ever tasted. If you’re ever in Klaksvik, look out for the food shack down at the harbour.

So despite the occasional frustration, the trip still had its moments and it was a very enjoyable week in the company of Andrew and our friend from the old Instagramming days, Jamie. I’d like to revisit in winter but you would be at the mercy of the weather even more. However it’s an incredible place. If you go to my Instagram account, I’ve left all the videos and iPhone photos from the trip up in the Stories section - just look for the Faroese flag and you’ll see the whole week compressed to a few minutes.

As I write this in November, I still haven’t edited all my photos, but it will give me something to do in the long winter evenings ahead! I don’t think Andrew has edited any of his yet – give him a nudge folks.

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Sweden - a flying visit

A family trip to Sweden to visit my eldest son was a late decision and one that wasn’t meant to be a “photo trip” as such. I only took my main camera and a single lens to save weight. However I came away with a few photos I really liked. On a cycle through some woodland, I looked down at the granite rock we were standing on to look out over the countryside, and the various root patterns from the nearby trees clinging to the stone made for some interesting details and textures.

Another day saw us wandering around the island of Djurgården in Stockholm. A view point didn’t provide the expected view, but a fallen tree trunk offered some more amazing patterns and textures. Later, passing by a marina, the shadows of a moored boat in the water created an abstract image of gentle curves and shapes that was really pleasing to capture and will go into my “boat” collection at some point. Its always good to find opportunities when you're not looking for them.

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Arran - Scotland in Minature

It’s been years since I was last on Arran. The boys were really young and we camped down at Kildonan on the south end of the island for a week. When the annual lads' week away came round this year, Dylan suggested Arran as he knows it well, and it wasn’t too far for the English boys to travel to. It turned out to be a very productive week despite challenging conditions. Heavy overcast skies turned to thick offshore fog and a stillness I’ve never seen or heard before. There was little autumn colour left either, so apart for a foray up the hillside above Glen Rosa, most of my time was spent at the shore amongst the incredible rocky features or exploring the harbours, picking out details on the hulls of yachts.

I don't really do much wildlife photography but when the opportunity arises I have a go. And as I was sitting having my lunch beside the water's edge a small furry face popped up between the rocks in front of me as a young otter decided to check me out. That was slightly ironic as our resident wildlife photographer Colin, had spent the day lying on a cold granite slab with his heated underwear switched on to fend off the cold, and saw absolutely nothing. We were very sympathetic, honestly.

Of course on the last day and on the ferry back to the mainland, the clouds opened up and I was able to use the 200mm lens to catch those light beams shining through the hills and onto the sea. Oh and there was a large pod of dolphins cavorting around in the wake of the ferry, but don't tell Colin that. Anyway, thanks to Dylan Nardini, Andrew Atkinson, Andy Gray and Colin Orr for making it a fun week. I am slowly working my way through the editing.

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Social Media and the rise of Bluesky

Well its been an interesting couple of weeks, to say the least. Twitter (or X as I refuse to call it) has lost around 25% of its UK users since the US election and many people I follow have closed their accounts. A lot of them have jumped to Bluesky, which looks and feels exactly like Twitter did, except that you control the algorithms so if you don’t want to see right wing propaganda, don’t engage with it, and you won’t see it.

I actually joined Bluesky over three months ago and enjoyed the experience. Everyone was nice and friendly and there were no dramas. But in the last couple of weeks my follower count has risen from 150 to 2000 (rising as I type) which is more than I had in Twitter after years of posting content. Now you can have 100,000 followers but if none of them engage with you, there is no point. So we’ll see how things develop, but its been nothing but positive so far. Its also been quite fun to find famous or interesting people and because they've only got a handful of followers so far, they're happy to engage with you.

So will it be a flash in the pan, like the app Vero was? At the moment I don’t think so. Like many others I also joined Vero but I struggled with it and never really understood how it worked. I also still had all the other apps to post on and they still worked fine. I just had a FOMO. Bluesky is very like Twitter so it is easy to pick up very quickly. It has its quirks but they don’t stop you using it, so people don’t have to try very hard to get to grips with it. Also, I think a lot more people have joined and a lot of the well known photographers have also made the leap. It will be interesting to see if they stick it out and post regularly. 

How Bluesky will pay for itself if its growth continues is another question. It is owned by a big hedge fund or something similar so at some point they will want a profit and it will either be adverts or some sort of subscription. Hopefully its not more ads, but I wouldn’t mind paying a small fee. However at at the moment it feels like how Twitter felt early on, and it’s a nice feeling.

It terms of statistics, for comparison, on Facebook we have 3,300 followers but a recent post gained only 4 likes - and my feed is full of posts by groups and organisations that I have absolutely no interest in. I’m guessing that either the algorithms are unkind to us and no-one is seeing the post, or else all those people who are signed up to Facebook, simply don’t look at it anymore. Its probably both. Maybe the photos are just not good enough or grab the eye quickly enough for people who scroll by. But I refuse to play the algorithm games and post a continuous stream of Highland Cow photos or ridiculously overexposed sunsets just to grab attention. I only want to post landscape photographs of the highest quality.

Twitter (or X) with 1380 followers (and falling) saw the same post get 26 likes. On Instagram, with 2,700 followers, it got 48 likes and a handful of nice comments. Bluesky (albeit when I had fewer followers) saw it get 61 likes.

One of the good things about Bluesky is you can set up what are called Starter Packs, usually around a common theme, maybe your line of work, your football team, or even landscape photographers. So if you’re new you can immediately engage with a whole group of likeminded people by either going through the list and picking them off, or using the “follow all” button. Three weeks ago I’d look and see who everyone was that followed me, and if they posted sensible content I’d follow them back. Sadly with over 100 new followers a day at the moment it has just become impossible to keep up, and that’s a shame. However I guarantee if you leave a comment I’ll try to see who you are and what you post. If you don’t have any personal content to share or its all political stuff, you won’t be followed back. I get enough of that on Twitter.

I have a starter pack containing the accounts of the top UK landscape photographers, many of whom I knew from Twitter or Instagram, so if you join Bluesky and like to see the work of the very best landscape photographers, you’ll find them here. There are also some nice features which existed on Twitter as well, like Alt Text, where you are encouraged to include a description of the photograph for people who are visually impaired. I never even noticed it in Twitter but people do comment on Bluesky if you forget to include it. And as of today, a blind person followed me so I must not forget.

Follow me via the link below.

https://bsky.app/profile/grantbulloch.bsky.social