Featured Photographer: Mhairi Law, Island Tales

Mhairi Law is an award winning photographer based on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. She uses medium-format film to capture island landscapes and evidence of human interactions within it.

Mhairi created The Scottish Analogue Directory, dedicated to artists throughout Scotland who use analogue photography techniques within their professional creative practice. The first of its kind in Scotland, this online community of artists is used to connect, inspire and celebrate analogue photography as a science of historical significance and, most importantly, of contemporary artistic relevance.

WE ARE interviewed Mhairi about her new project.

RPS WIP: What was your inspiration and motivation behind setting up the Scottish Analogue Directory? Was it a lockdown conception?

ML: The Scottish Analogue Directory has been an idea I’ve been playing with for some time now. There’s a wealth of analogue artwork being made across Scotland and in more recent years since the opening of Island Darkroom, I’ve been curious as to how to seek them all out - so I suppose the idea partly began through my own curiosity to see who else was out there.

Although it wasn’t the main reason for creating the directory, the COVID lockdown gave me the shove that I needed to get it started. Many people were feeling so disconnected from their usual support systems, and many artists were losing out on events or exhibitions which, apart from anything else, can be a great chance to connect and discover new artists, as well as showcasing work. I felt that The Scottish Analogue Directory could be a great way to help with some of these difficulties, even in a small way, and if it took off we’d have a great resource at the end of it.

It also feels really positive to be instigating something Scotland-wide from somewhere that isn’t often considered to be at the centre of things. There’s a thriving artists community here in the Outer Hebrides and I now have the pleasure of representing some of them as part of The Scottish Analogue Directory.

WIP RPS: How does it work and who it is aimed at?

ML: The Scottish Analogue Directory is aimed at artists throughout Scotland who use analogue photography processes within their professional creative practice - although this doesn’t have to be the main medium of their work. The idea of aiming this solely at professionals means the artists know they’re being represented alongside their peers. It also means that the virtual space (specifically The Scottish Analogue Directory) doesn’t become too saturated - I find that with many online groups there’s the danger of feeling lost within it. I wanted to keep the space more personal so that the artists feel that when they speak, they’re being heard.

You can sign-up by visiting the About page on the Island Darkroom website and following the information there to give me an email. I’ll be periodically adding artists as I receive entries, there’s no deadline and artists are always welcome!

RPS WIP: What are you hoping to achieve with it now that it’s launched?

ML: I wanted to build a virtual space where professional artists working in analogue mediums could interact and discuss work, as well as discovering new people along the way. My hope is for The Scottish Analogue Directory to one day become an extensive online resource, a go-to place to see what analogue photography is being made in Scotland and who is making it.

Post-COVID, I also hope that being able to link these artists in this way now means possible collaborations and connections away from our screens too.

RPS WIP: Can you tell me a little more about your own analogue work and what you like about this photographic medium?

ML: My photographic learnings are all rooted in analogue. The digital images that I have taken in a professional capacity have never satisfied me as analogue does. I enjoy the practical side of printing my own images in the darkroom as well as the incredible quality of imagery that film is capable of. Viewing a darkroom print, I’m aware of it as an object in its own right, in the sense that it has been created by, and has a connection to, an artist in a very tangible way.

RPS WIP: Have you had many people sign up to the directory?

ML: There was a brilliant response to the initial call-out! Encouraging artists to sign up will be an on-going process, all the better to create an even richer tapestry and representation of all Scottish analogue artists.

RPS WIP: As a resource, what can those listed hope to gain from being part of the directory?

ML: As an artist on The Scottish Analogue Directory, you will have your listing posted publicly on the Island Darkroom website and access to the private directory facebook group. The aim of the facebook page is to create open dialogue between all the analogue artists - share news of events, ask for technical advice, seek out a potential collaborator - it is what people make it! Periodically I will also select artist from The Scottish Analogue Directory to be featured on Island Darkroom’s social media channels, and artists will also be added to the directory Newsletter which will share featured artists, news on Scottish photography, award opportunities and photography exhibitions.

RPS WIP: Who are the female analogue photographers that you most admire?

ML: My influences come from varied places, past and present; Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen of the Eyes as Big as Plates duo, who I’ve had the pleasure of assisting on an Isle of Lewis shoot they undertook in 2019. Historical photographers such as Fay Gowdin I always return to, and I admire the work of so many of my peers such as Frances Scott, Morwenna Kearsley and Arpitah Shah.

RPS WIP: Where can people see more of your work?

ML: You can see my personal projects on www.mlawphotography.com and visit www.islanddarkroom.com for more photographs and links to The Scottish Analogue Directory!

RPS WIP: Is the directory linked in any way to the other workshops and residencies that you offer at Island Darkroom?

ML: Currently, The Scottish Analogue Directory is a standalone project, but I so hope for one day to instigate residencies through the analogue artists involved here on the Isle of Lewis. Unfortunately, the residencies I organised through Island Darkroom last winter had to be cancelled due to COVID, so I’m pretty tentative to get excited about anything that might involve people travelling at the moment - watch this space though!