Opening tomorrow at Atlas Gallery is Scottish photographer Steve Macleod’s debut exhibition, ‘Blackwater’.

Large format colour prints depict the seasonal landscape around the River Blackwater. By methodically visiting the same sites along the river course, Macleod repetitively shoots the same subjects through the seasons in direct relation to the way he feels, translating his emotional state through the lens.

Steve Macleod - Collapse of Thought, 2008

Steve Macleod - Rolling Dark Vacuum, 2009

Working in a traditional way, he uses a weighty 5×4 Field camera and controls colour temperature and effects wholly within the camera, rather than through Photoshop. He uses early 1950s lenses, which are uncoated and lead to small aberrations, creating a softness in the image with elements of flare. He takes advantage of all the movements in the camera such as back-plate shift and lens tilt to abstract the composition, creating ambiguities of scale. Maintaining a narrow depth of field, elements of the foreground are often as sharp as the background. Large areas of the composition are blurred producing a sense of movement and an experience more akin to human memory and visual experience. In contrast, sections are captured in prosaic detail enticing the viewer into the depths of the image through the surrounding mist.

Macleod has worked as a professional printer since the early 1990s with some of the world’s leading photographers such as David Bailey and Mario Testino, collaborating and consulting beyond what is normally required. He has gained an international reputation in this area and published several books on the subject. Macleod currently works as Creative Director at Metro Imaging, London, whilst pursuing his personal photographic projects.

The exhibition runs from the 12th March to 24th April at The Atlas Gallery.

Click here for more information.