Photographs by David Paterson
Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum 18 January – 1 March 2015

The Smith’s 2015 programme kicks off with a photography exhibition to get into the spirit of Dig It! 2015, the year-long celebration of Scottish archaeology (http://digit2015.com).

David Paterson is a former commercial photographer who retired to Killin in Stirling district in 2003 after a long career as a freelance in the advertising and publishing industries. He began his career in Edinburgh, moving to London in the early 1980s.

In both cities he worked for the leading advertising agencies, design groups and publishing houses of the day. He has published over a dozen books of landscape photography on subjects ranging from the Scottish Highlands to the Himalayas, and has held numerous exhibitions.

He enjoyed a 25-year collaboration with the internationally-renowned garden artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay, which gave rise to several more books, exhibitions and other publications.

He now devotes himself to the photography of Scottish landscapes and nature.

Colin O’Brien, Chairman of the Smith Trustees said

It is a particular pleasure to welcome this exhibition of stunningly beautiful images from an internationally-known photographer who lives locally. The Stirling Smith serves the Stirling Council area from Killin and Crianlarich in the north, to Fallin and Throsk in the south, and we like to feature the work of artists who live here.

Scotland is rich in neolithic monuments and David Paterson has been photographing them from the 1970s to the present day. He writes:

The stones tell us that humans have long been capable great feats of strength and organisation, and that they have been engaged since the beginning in a search for meaning and spirituality. These monuments speak directly to us and though we may no longer understand their language, we feel their power and mystery.

They are messages written on the landscape; memories from out of time.

All works are for sale in the price range £150 – £300.