Art & Design
Central Library
George IV Bridge | Edinburgh | EH1
Just for the record, the weather today
Is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of
A: indifference, or B: disinterest
In what the critics say
Panic! at the Disco: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out*
Artists are forever finding themselves frustrated by the weather, so the best outcome they can hope for is that the weather is indifferent to their toil, rather than actively thwarting it. Especially those artists who work with ultraviolet-light dependent alternative photography processes... in Scotland.
Whether we anthropomorphise the weather or not, anthropogenic climate change nonetheless threatens all aspects of our environment and our livelihoods. Scotland continues to feel the effect of weather so severe we have to name it. Storm Éowyn in early 2025 was the UK's most powerful windstorm for over a decade causing "unimaginable" devastation to Scotland's botanic gardens and millions in damages to business.
The arm on the barometer swings quickly as we flit from one extreme low to another high, the weather echoing politics. The currents running round our weather systems affect us all. A butterfly influencer causes a storm, a wallowing elephant a tsunami.
To weather the storm of anxiety brought on by the constant deluge of anxiety-inducing news, we deploy the umbrella of indifference. A good way of escaping this anxiety and digging into existence is to have good friends and be part of a group who share common interests. LoFi has been meeting for 16 years.
*Panic! at the Disco reference the book Diary by Chuck Palahniuk.
Edinburgh LoFi is a Traditional, Alternative and Lomographic photography collective that has been running for 16 years. Our twice-monthly meetings are open to all - one online and one (or more!) in person for photochat, photowalks and workshops. All welcome, please look at our website or email info@edinburghlofi.com to find out more.
PV on the 8th of April from 6pm. All welcome.
Look out for our Pinhole Day photowalk on the 27th of April meeting outside Central Library.
Our next winter exhibition will be on the theme SUPERIMPOSITION - email to find out how to submit works.
Scroll down to see each person's work.
Click the person's name below to find out more about them
Alan Borthwick Sheila Borthwick Graeme Lyall Gregg McNeill Ali Millar Jenni O'Sullivan Elaine Robson Judith Rowan Mary Gordon
Storm Eowyn - On Friday 24th January Storm warnings were issued for much of UK. So many are inaccurate but this was the real thing causing lots of damage. These pictures were just up the road from our house in Perth. We face South West and are 500ft altitude.
Shot on Foma 400 film developed in Ilford Ddx, through an old Olympus XA3 compact camera from 1980, still used regularly.
Sea Fret - Taken on a foggy day in Amble Northumberland, October 2024.. The fog rolls in from North Sea and can linger all day closing the harbour, which has a narrow entrance with tidal race.
Shot on Foma 400 through my faithful Olympus XA3 compact camera.
Sea-storm at Amble Harbour Northumberland.
Froze solid - Car widescreen and mirror after rain and ice storm.
"Indifferent Weather"
It was a very cold day in March along the coast, and I mostly had the place to myself.
Details: Holga camera, Kosmo Foto 120 film, silver gelatin prints.
Gregg McNeill is a photographer, whose interests lie in the Victorian era processes.
Someone very wise once said to me that we are all victims of physics. That really stayed with me. I feel the same way about the weather.
The weather doesn’t care about you and will happen to you regardless…
When I think of inclement weather I think of weather extremes. This is a shot taken in Namibia of a petrified forest. It is from a film negative, scanned then made into 4 Polaroids.
.
After the storm, 2025
These photographs show how different weather conditions affect buildings and the landscape. Whether through gradual deterioration caused by exposure to the elements, as seen in this glasshouse at Lauriston Castle. Or through violent events like Storm Éowyn in January, that triggered a rare red weather warning and brought down thousands of trees across the country.
"Loss"
Let go, float away on the breeze, travel to new places, observe from above those left beneath, settle when you are able.
Bennachie, November 2024.
Photographer / Film Maker / Creativity Facilitator / Scottish Political Activist
and
a founding member of Edinburgh LoFi.
She will be missed and remembered by us all.
A selection of scanned film photographs shown for the first time.
Fragments of weathering
