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Opening this Saturday (12 November) at the City Art Centre, Glean, features 125 photographs, eight films and 35 related artefacts by 14 women who worked in Scotland in the early 20th century.

The work is drawn from 17 archives predominantly from Scotland, ranging from Galloway to Shetland. This exhibition aims to show how the women responded with their cameras to life in Scotland’s rural communities, cities and beyond. It is the first time their work will have been seen together, and it uncovers a previously untold story within the history of Scottish photography and filmmaking from this period. These women present different accounts of Scotland, covering both rural and city places and communities. The exhibition will show the breadth of their photography and filmmaking, offering a critical analysis of their work.

The exhibition groups the work under four themes: nature, landscape and travel looks at the ways the women were keen observers of nature and landscape, including working the land. Capturing Scotland shows how the women captured the shift from traditional to modern life in both urban and rural contexts. Recording Community looks at the works of two of the women in particular, Margaret Fay Shaw and Dr Beatrice Garvie, who lived for long periods of time in the communities they were recording. Women and Society looks at how, as photographers and filmmakers, they portrayed the role of women in rural and urban societies.

From rural Scotland, we see a portrait of Shetland from Jenny Gilbertson; Margaret Fay Shaw’s portraits of sisters Màiri and Peigi MacRae and their life in the small village of North Glendale, South Uist; to the wanderings of M.E.M. Donaldson in her walks with her camera across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In a time where islanders and highlanders were represented purely as ‘type’, the work of these women presents them as real people and equals, an intimacy afforded by living in their communities over a long period of time. Through their lens we can also glimpse the issues of the time, from the recording of protest marches by Helen Biggar and Christina Broom, to the housing conditions of the lower classes through Ruby Grierson and the interwar years in Marion Grierson’s films. Rural and city work, industry and trade are represented in particular by Violet Banks, Margaret Watkins, Margaret Fay Shaw and Jenny Gilbertson. Isabell Burton MacKenzie was The Highlands Home Industry travelling organiser from 1911-14. Using a Kodak Vest Pocket camera as an aide memoire, she visited the homes of islanders involved in craft, to encourage them to sell their work directly through exhibitions on the mainland through The Highlands Home Industry initiatives. Dr Beatrice Garvie, who was the medical doctor for North Roaldsay, Orkney, for 15 years, recorded the work and significant community events in the island.

The exhibition alludes to the different contexts the women were working in, from those who were independent to those working in or with industry. This was, of course, during a period when only some women over 30 had the vote in 1918, with all women over 21 being granted the vote in 1928, the early women photographers and film-makers were forging a different path to that expected of their gender. For example, Banks and Broom sustained their own commercial photography studios, whilst the Grierson sisters worked through their brother documentary maker John Grierson’s national government and industry financed film initiatives.

The exhibition curated by Jenny Brownrigg, Exhibitions Director at The Glasgow School of Art, is a partnership project with City Art Centre. There is a programme of events accompanying the exhibition which brings together other researchers, gallerists and archivists who have championed the work of these women.

Culture and Communities Convener Cllr Val Walker said:

Glean promises to be an empowering exhibition that looks back on the wonderful work of female photographers and early filmmakers who were creating an important legacy in a male dominated field. The women featured played a huge part in the photography history of Scotland and Glean invites viewers to find out more about these inspiring women and it’s fantastic to see the accomplishments of these extraordinary practitioners.

City Art Centre Curator, David Patterson said:

The City Art Centre is delighted to be staging this exhibition in partnership with Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions Director, Jenny Brownrigg. We were really intrigued by Jenny’s original proposal to tell the story of these pioneering women, and to bring their work to a wider public. The proposal also fitted so well with other photographic exhibitions being staged at the same time, providing a national and historical context to the two other displays which have a definite Edinburgh focus. We are confident that visitors will find the exhibition of real interest, as well as the accompanying events programme which enables a deeper exploration of the work of some of the artists.

Jenny Brownrigg, the curator of ‘Glean’ said:

I am delighted to be working with City Art Centre for this exhibition and am grateful to all the lenders. I hope that the exhibition shows the women’s different motivations for making their work. Seen together, their photography and films show different stories about Scotland.

 

Autumn is coming! The days are getting shorter, there is a crisp snap to the air, and the first rains are blowing in from the Pacific. To celebrate the changing of the seasons, Aubrey and I went out to the White River, east of the Cascades, and paddled the 14 miles of the twists and turns upstream of Lake Wenatchee. The tributaries of Lake Wenatchee are one of five spawning grounds for sockeye salmon in Washington, and now is the time that they are beginning their upstream migrations. Sockeye salmon fry (the baby fish) are unusual compared to other salmon in that they need a lake to mature, before they head out to the ocean (though land-locked populations also exist, called kokanee).

The river was never more than 300 yards or so from the road, and yet, it felt like a real wilderness, almost like being far from civilization in Alaska. In addition to the salmon, we saw bald eagles, river otters, american dippers, and lots of evidence of bears (paw tracks). It’s nice to see a healthy wilderness ecosystem thriving so close to civilization.

Tags: cascades, packrafting, paddling, white river

May 14, 2022

Landscape photography is about capturing the scenery of a place. It can be your way of showing how you see the world around you, and a way to capture the beauty of the landscape and environment, whether that’s local, or when travelling. This genre is all about light, location and composition. Thinking about what you include in your image can take your landscape photography from average to being spectacular. Below, in no particular order, we have rounded up some of the best landscape photographs we’ve seen as inspiration for your next landscape shoot…

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The Best Landscape Photographs

Morning at Countryside by Mara Leite

Mara Leite won the grand prize of Landscape Photographer of the Year 2021 with this beautiful photograph taken in Halnaker, West Sussex.

Mara told us, ‘Mill Lane is a famous footpath in Halnaker, West Sussex. I was looking for a different composition when I decided to turn the other way and saw this beautiful sight. I love the gate in the background and how the morning light is hitting the leaves and softly entering the tunnel.’

She shared her top tips for landscape photography here: Top tips for award-winning landscapes from LPOTY 2021 winners

@maralphoto

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Woolland Woods by Chris Frost

Chris Frost won Landscape Photographer of the Year 2020 with his early-morning shot of Woolland Woods in Dorset, with mist rolling over wild garlic.

‘Taken in spring of 2018 in a wooded area close to Milborne St. Andrew in Dorset, this was the third visit to the area in a matter of days,’ he explains. ‘On the previous days, both devoid of morning mists, the light had been harsh and unappealing but the third day delivered stunning conditions with mist swirling through the trees. The low shooting position allowed more emphasis to be placed on the wild garlic and pathway.’

@chris_frost_photography

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Breaking the Time by Aytek Çetin

Aytek Çetin won the overall International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2021 title with his portfolio containing this image Breaking The Time, Cappadocia, Turkey.

Aytek Çetin explained, ‘The 60-million-year-old story of fairy chimneys and the fact they have been home to different civilisations for tens of thousands of years, makes Cappadocia extremely mysterious for me. If you are lucky, you can visit there during hazy, atmospheric conditions with a soft light pushing through at sunrise or sunset.’

These soft light conditions were present when Çetin shot this cleverly framed study of the three fairy chimneys at sunrise on a winter morning. ‘The reason I chose this location is because I love the excitement inside me when the sun first hits the fairy chimneys and how it makes me feel like I’m living in the bronze age.’

Çetin was born and raised in Ankara, Turkey, and revealed, ‘I graduated from the department of sales management at university and, for many years, I worked as a store manager for luxury Italian clothing brands. I used to go to the sea for my limited holidays, but after repeating the same kind of trips for years, it was starting to lose its meaning for me. Then I decided to do something different, to dive deeply into nature. I started to explore remote, mountainous regions and experiencing the energy of the mightiest entities of nature, left me deeply impressed and awakened a love for nature within. An interest in photography followed as a result and has now turned into a passion!’

@aytekcetinphotography

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Comet NeoWise Setting by Tanmay Sapkal

Tanmay’s Sapkal’s image Comet NeoWise Setting won the 8th International Landscape Photograph of the Year, which is awarded for a single image at the International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Sapkal is an amateur photographer from the USA, and his winning photograph was taken on Mt. Tamalpais, in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, USA.

Sapkal revealed to us how he shot the image, ‘It is quite a special place for photographers as it stands above the local landscape, which is engulfed in low coastal fog almost every summer evening. After shooting there tens of times over the last four years, I realised that I really liked the way fog looks when it is lit from underneath. I also realised that the comet would become visible in the north west sky, so I started planning this shot.’

He added, ‘It wasn’t possible to line up the comet exactly above the foreground I wanted, so I decided to take two separate exposures. It took a couple of visits to get just the right amount of fog on the hills to create the dreamy setting and then I waited patiently for some cars to drive by and create a blanket of light under the fog. After shooting for more than a few hours that night, my friend and I hurried back down to the car. Little did we know that parking on the mountain after sunset meant getting a parking ticket! But now, in my opinion, it’s the best $80 I have ever spent on parking! Ha ha!’

@theurbanvoyager

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Lake Magadi by Jie Fisher

This photograph by Jie Fischer, is one of the images as part of the portfolio which won the Landscapes & Adventure category of Travel Photographer of the Year 2021 (TPOTY). The photographs in her portfolio were taken from a helicopter and show a colourful, almost abstract depicting flamingos over the remarkable coloured waters of Lake Magadi in Kenya.

She explained, ‘Lake Magadi is one of the inland lakes at the southernmost point of Kenya, belonging to the Rift Valley area of Kenya, formed by fault subsidence. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by sodium carbonate and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos. In the dry season, there will be salt deposits around the lake, forming colourful patterns, depending on wind and wave. Large numbers of flamingos are often seen here.’

@jiefischerphotographer

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Haines, Alaska by Pally Learmond

Pally Learmond won the ‘Landscapes & Adventure: Best Single Image’ category of TPOTY 2021 with this shot of a single skier in Haines, Alaska, USA.

He revealed, ‘Due to the close proximity of the Pacific Ocean, snow sticks to the mountains of southeast Alaska like nowhere else on earth. This creates a phenomenon called “spines” which form on top of the normally steep and rocky mountain faces. This provides professional free-ride skiers with a playground like no other. In this photo, Austrian professional free-skier Fabian Lentsch lets it all go on a mountain face called “Dirty Needle”.’

@pallylearmond

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It’s a Long Road by Daniel Newton

Daniel Newton won our Landscapes round of the Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 competition. This was a unanimously recognised and well-received image, achieving placings and commendations from nine of the ten judges. A classic, bucolic landscape scene it most certainly is not, but that’s what makes it stand out. There’s an odd balance of bleakness and anticipation here.

Bleak, of course, thanks to the desolate sand dunes that flank the empty road, while the anticipation comes from the sense that the viewer is heading somewhere. We can’t help but be curious as to what might exist beyond the horizon.

The interesting processing adds to the overall effect. By desaturating and toning the image in the way he has, Daniel has enhanced the sense of other-worldliness.

Daniel also came second in the overall APOY competition and he shared his inspirations and tips here: APOY 2021 winners share their inspiration and tips ahead of 2022 competition

Amateur Photographer of the Year 2022 is now open, enter here.

@dan.newtons

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Gliding above the Gold by Dave Smith

Dave Smith came third in our Landscapes round of the Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 competition with his image captured above Lake Annecy in the south of France… and what a shot! This photograph transports the viewer right into the scene, making us feel as if we are on top of a mountain looking down upon the intrepid paragliders as they float over a mist-covered Lake Annecy.

Dave did well to compose so that the paragliders stand out against the softness of the lower part of the frame. Any higher, and they would have been lost against the shadows. He’s also adhered to the rule of thirds nicely, which works well here. Overall, an atmospheric and evocative capture.

@davewsphotography

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Highway to the Stars by Jack Giam

Jack Giam from Australia won our Landscapes round of Young Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021.

The contrast between the bright orange of the traffic trails and the navy of the sky and water is what immediately catches the eye here. Jack has composed his shot very nicely, with the line of the road starting in the bottom right corner, then curving round and out of sight, leaving the viewer wondering where it leads.

In the right kind of daylight, this would have been a pleasing enough image, but taking the initiative to shoot it at night is what elevates it, and makes it a worthy winner.

@jackgiam

Enter Young Amateur Photographer of the Year 2022 here!

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Bare Land by Lorenzo Poli

The ‘Life on Earth’ series by Lorenzo Poli, which won the Professional, Landscape category at 2022 Sony World Photography Awards, delves into the ethereal magic of nature and the mysterious beauty of an untamed world, depicted through a diverse set of landscapes. This photograph was taken at an uninhabitable volcanic desert in the Icelandic Highlands. The climatic conditions here are so harsh that, for the majority of the year, life doesn’t thrive.

Lorenzo Poli said, ‘Science and religions may all fall short in explaining the incredible miracle of life which, through millennials of evolution, has transformed barren land into a living planet. There is an untamed world between sacred and magic, where the essence of life is safeguarded by silence, where the outer and the inner world coincide. This is what I am seeking to photograph.’

@lorenzopoli.photography

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Landscape with Trees by Federico Testi

Testi’s minimalist photograph Landscape with Trees won a Gold award in the Nature Art category of World Nature Photography Awards 2021.

Federico Testi explained, ‘The natural creativity of San Quirico d’orcia, in Tuscany, Italy. Waves, shapes and tone created by light, in harmony with the universe.’

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South Island Landscape, New Zealand by Sam Wilson

Sam Wilson won a Gold award in the Planet Earth’s Landscapes and Environments category of the World Nature Photography Awards 2021.

She revealed, ‘Travelling down random dirt roads can be so rewarding when you are greeted with scenes like this. Taken on South Island, New Zealand.’

@samwilson_photo

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Solar Graphic by Andrius Repšys

Taken during a winter of unseasonably heavy snowfall caused by climate change, ‘Solar Graphic’ by Andrius Repšys (Lithuania) captures sustainable energy sources such as dams, wind turbines and solar batteries from above, reducing them to graphic abstractions.

In 2021, Lithuania once again experienced a winter of heavy snowfalls – a result of the climate crisis and global warming. Depicted in these photographs are sustainable energy sources such as dams, wind turbines and solar batteries – the very things we need in order to slow down the occurrences of climate disasters. Two of the three main elements of Solar Graphics – seasonality and sustainable energy – organically and purposefully complement each other.

Winter’s monochromatic palette helps reveal the graphic elements found in the white snow. As the land is disrupted by dark lines new images appear – a mouth full of dazzling white teeth or a robot with a surprised look on its face. The high vantage point reduces the landscape to abstraction allowing the viewer to find new meanings and interpretations in the photograph.

Repšys’ was a finalist in the professional category of Sony World Photography Awards 2022.

@andrius.repsys

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Orchid by Zhu Jianxin

The Grand Prize winner in the Photo Category of the Skypixel 7th Anniversary Aerial Photo & Video Contest, was shot by Zhu Jianxin on a DJI Mavic 2 Pro.

The image, Orchid, shows an otherworldly sight of a frozen lake after a heavy snow fell in the Taklamakan Desert, China. With a simple change in perspective, several cracks on a frozen lake magically came together to form something akin to a portrait of an elegant orchid.

Jianxin explained, ‘Photography as an art form always comes from life. It is born from nature. I am amazed by how a drone changes my perspective and helps me capture the beauty of our world.’

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Perfect Chaos by Sara Zanini

Sara Zanini’s photograph taken over the town of Gangi in Sicily was shot on a DJI Mavic 2 Pro and received a First prize in the Skypixel Aerial Photo Contest. This photograph shows a fantastic juxtaposition between the traditional urban town against the natural mountainous landscape.

@sarazaniniiiii

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Room 504 by Charlotte Gibb

Charlotte’s stamping ground is California. It’s home to a wide variety of landscapes, from rugged coastlines to ancient Redwood trees and deserts. This photograph was taken opposite Yosemite Falls from a hotel room window. Firstly, what an incredible view to have from your room! Everything within this photograph, from the light and the falls to the focus drawn into the single tree is dreamy.

Speaking of intimate landscapes she said, ‘Intimate landscapes are compositions that have been derived from the larger scene. It could be a photograph of a small section of beach, or a group of trees, or it could be a photograph of a section of an entire mountain… My heart-of-hearts is with the Sierra Nevada mountains and Yosemite National Park, though… There is tremendous diversity, and as much as I go back again and again, I always come away with a new composition. My most meaningful work has come from these places.’

She shares her tips for capturing your own intimate landscapes here.

@charlottegibb

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Knowlton, Dorset by Jeremy Walker

This moody, monochrome scene by award winning professional landscape photographer and regular AP contributor Jeremy Walker brings a lot of drama and atmosphere with the dark intense sky looming over Knowlton church in Dorset.

When speaking about creating mono landscapes, Jeremy said choosing a ‘subject matter where the mood and drama help tell a story – ancient stone circles, Neolithic earthworks, and abandoned buildings like old churches can all look amazing with stormy skies and fleeting patches of light.’

This photograph is a perfect example!

Jeremy shares his tips for capturing moody monochrome landscapes like this here: How to capture moody monochrome landscapes

@jeremywalkerphotography

Jeremy will also be leading some of our upcoming Photography Holidays, in partnership with Zoom Photo Tours, see all information of our trips here.

Iceland Photo Adventure, 3-8 September 2022

Isle of Skye, 16-19 February 2023

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Stepping Stones #2 by Lee Frost

Black and white images can be simpler, more dramatic, more evocative and more atmospheric than colour. The minimal black and white shot by Lee Frost feels a lot calmer than Walker’s suspenseful landscape above. Taken on a foggy morning by Grasmere, Lake District, this image however doesn’t lack in atmosphere.

Whether you feel calm and at peace, or a sense of eeriness, Frost’s image is successful compositionally, with the stepping stones leading us into the lake.

See his tips for black and white photography.

@leefrostphotography

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The Far Hills by Rachael Talibart

For someone who describes themselves as ‘a poor swimmer and a poorly sailor’ it seems incredible that award-winning coastal and seascape photographer Rachael Talibart chose the sea as her muse.

Her captivating coastal photography has been recognised with awards such as Black+White Photographer of the Year in 2018 and winning the Sunday Times Magazine’s Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2016.

Talibart has had three monographs of her work published – including Sirens and Tides and Tempests – and she runs her f11 photography workshops as well as leading photography tours for Ocean Capture.

Talibart was also featured as one of our 12 top UK woman photographers you must follow

How to take great coastal shots and seascapes this winter

@rachaeltalibart

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 Sutton Park by Verity Milligan

Taken in Sutton Park, Birmingham, Verity Milligan’s photograph was taken on a cold morning in late autumn/early winter.

When speaking of this photograph on Instagram, she said, ‘This is one of those examples of why I love using a telephoto for landscape imagery. The sky would have added little to this composition and distracted from the main event — that frozen little island.’

Milligan’s images have featured in several exhibitions and have been highly commended in major photography awards such as Outdoor Photographer of the Year, British Life Photographer of the Year and Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year.

Image featured in: Pro tips for great landscape photography

Milligan was also featured as one of our 12 top UK woman photographers you must follow

@veritymilligan

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Get more inspiration & tips

Feeling inspired? View our landscape photography tips and get shooting some spectacular shots!

If you are new to landscapes, check out our beginners guide to Landscape Photography.

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Further reading:

The best landscape photography books for inspiration

How to photograph low light urban landscapes

See the top 20 best travel photographs!

Follow AP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

How to Hang and Care for Photographic Wall Art

Photographic wall art can transform a space. Works can tie a room together, pique the interest of guests, inspire creativity, and add a bit of flair and class to your home. All these benefits do not come freely, however. Once you purchase a piece of photographic art, you become its curator and have a responsibility to the piece to care for it and display it properly. Large pieces of wall art are not merely decorative tools, but treasures in and of themselves. Below are some general tips on proper preservation and presentation of photo wall art, so that all your pieces get the treatment they deserve.

Hanging & Displaying Your Art

The first consideration you should have with a large photographic work is where to put it and how to get it up there. This can take more effort and be more expensive than you might think, so make sure you’re in love with the work you choose and have the space to put it first.

Positioning Your Artwork

Figuring out where to put a piece of art can be difficult, especially if you inhabit a smaller or busier space. Location is of the utmost importance, however, as a poorly placed piece can not only adversely affect the artwork itself, but the whole flow of a room.

As a general rule, artworks should be hung so that their centers sit at eye level—something around 63 inches above the floor. Too high or too low, and people will need to contort themselves or stand at a distance to see the whole thing. If you’re hanging a photograph above a mantle or piece of furniture, a buffer zone is necessary to avoid awkward spacing and crowding. Something just shy of 10 inches should be enough.

Another important consideration is how close to any windows a piece is. Sunlight can cause photographs to fade and the materials they’re printed on to break down. Indirect sunlight is usually fine, but shade is the best preservative.

Most importantly, hang your art in a place where it can be seen and appreciated. Tight spaces like hallways and stairways are to be avoided, and make sure things like furniture and other pieces of decor don’t obscure your piece.

Using French Cleats

There are many ways of hanging photographic wall art. Some methods are better than others and many kinds of prints can only be hung certain ways.

The French cleat system, for instance, is ideal for works which feature some sort of rear-facing frame or lip. Floating frames are a good example of this, as their edge tends to protrude slightly from the back of the canvas itself. Bare canvasses which have their wooden frames exposed are also quite suitable.

French cleats are rectangular blocks of wood where one edge is cut at a slant, creating a sort of wedge shape. These pieces are fastened to a wall so that the tapered edge faces up and away from it. These edges are what make contact with the back frame, and friction holds the work close to the wall.

French cleats are convenient for their simple design and basic material construction. Anyone with scrap wood, a drill, and some screws or bolts can make a set. To set them up, simply mark on the target wall the places where the inner corners of the rear-facing frame will meet and drill the cleats in so that they align with the marks. As cleats require a little bit more wall drilling than other systems, always be sure to avoid hitting studs, and make sure your cleats are level with each other.

The Hook of D-Clips

Another popular method of hanging larger works is with D-clips. These are small, hinged loops (shaped like the letter D) fastened to the back of a frame, usually on the left and right sides.

D-clips are meant to be looped onto picture hangers nailed into the wall. These are the classic brass fixtures with a flat hook on one end and a loop on the other, punched through with a nail hole.

D-clips can be considered somewhat safer than French cleats because they use more than friction to keep the artwork in place. It is, however, more difficult to get a piece to be flush with the wall using this method, since the picture hangers and the D-clips must all extend past the terminus of the artwork itself.

The D-clip method is also commendable for requiring very little hardware: four pieces not including the pre-installed clips themselves. Getting the picture hangers perfectly aligned and level can be quite difficult, however, so it’s best to have good measuring tools and a helper.

Hanging By A Wire

The final hanging method for big photo artworks is with picture wire. This is perhaps the most ubiquitous and popular means of hanging wall art, both big and small.

Wire hanging works by running a piece of thin coiled wire between the right and left sides of the back of an artwork. It can be attached to D-clips or fastened straight to whatever backing the work has. A picture hanger, nail, bolt, or screw is then driven into the wall and the wire hung on it.

Wire hanging requires even less hardware than the regular D-clip method, and because there is only a single pivot point, fine adjustments are much more easily made. One downside is that this method tends to cause artworks to lean forward on top, making the whole thing tilt downward. As well, the wall mount needs to be quite strong, since it bears all the weight, and larger works may be too heavy.

Lighting Your Artwork

Once you’ve gotten your piece hung, you’ll need to figure out how to light it. There is a wide variety of lighting fixtures and techniques to choose from, and each will have a unique effect on how the colors and textures of a piece behave.

Natural Lighting

Sunlight is the baseline for all lighting, but is generally to be avoided for its ability to damage artworks. Indirect sunlight during the day can help save on electricity costs, but any kind of shade is going to make a piece of art less visible.

Artificial lighting is a much better route, but you’ll still tend to want to replicate the character of sunlight as closely as possible. The warmth or coolness of a light source is measured in Kelvin, and sunlight typically reaches about 5000K. For the most natural representations of color, all lighting should fall around this value.

Types of Fixtures

There are many types of fixtures which can be used to direct light at your piece, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Ceiling sconces and other forms of lighting embedded in the roof above a work are subtle and illuminate a piece without distracting from it. Overhead lighting should strike the art at about a 30 degree angle in order to minimize shadows below the work and reduce glare and reflections. Making ceiling lighting hit a piece of wall art at this angle can be difficult, and installing new sunken fixtures can be a hassle.

Track lighting is easier to install, and can be aimed and directed. Several spotlights are attached to a metal rail and can be used to light both an artwork and other areas of a room. The main downside is increased visibility. Track lighting is a common element of interior design these days, but some might still want something less obtrusive.

Wall washers, on the other hand, sit on the floor or are attached to the wall itself. These can be visually interesting, but the size and angle of their beams are less easy to control. They tend to create odd shadows on artworks and be much more obvious than other kinds of fixtures.

Picture lights hang just above or are attached to the artwork itself. They spread light directly onto a piece from a close range, and as a result can fail to illuminate the whole field evenly. Nonetheless, they are an easy solution and have a classic look which many may find desirable.

Types of Light Sources

Equally important is the kind of light source your fixtures use. Some lights will look more natural, some will be brighter, and others better for the preservation of the art itself.

Incandescent bulbs have been the norm for decades, and offer a warmer, more personal glow to a work and a space. They are, however, far from energy efficient and often dimmer than may be desired.

Fluorescent bulbs are more eco-friendly and brighter, but with one big downside: UV radiation. This creates the same problem as direct sunlight, as UV rays can fade and damage artwork overtime. If you choose to go fluorescent, make sure the light source is far away and try not to have it on all the time.

Halogen bulbs create a perfect facsimile of sunlight without the harmful UV spectrum. They’re also powerful and easily able to illuminate even the largest of pieces. Unfortunately, these bulbs are also very hot, and with these and any type of bulb, it’s best to keep them at a distance from the artwork.

LEDs, or light-emitting diodes are, in most cases, the best way to go. As the technology behind them has advanced, LEDs are now able to rival halogen bulbs in terms of their similarity to sunlight, but without appreciable levels of heat. LEDs are also cheap and easy to position, making them both budget- and conservation-friendly. With LEDs it’s also easy to change the beam angle to suit the size of the artwork, and color temperature can be set to balance with other sources of illumination in a space.

Go With The Flow

With all these considerations about mounting, positioning, and lighting, the overall message is flow. Where you put a piece, what kinds of decor it shares the space with, and how you allow viewers to look at a piece all have a profound effect on the impact of the art itself. Encompassing bold and intellectual abstract works, busy cityscapes, intimate portraits, and stunning scenes from the natural world, professional photographs can be some of the most beautiful works in the art world. Still, at the end of the day, it’s your job as owner and curator to show others exactly how and why a piece is special.