Alexander Boyd FRSA (born 15 July 1984) is a Scottish photographer and writer. He has published several books, and his work is included in both public and private collections including the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, The Yale Center for British Art,Yale Center for British Art - Catalogue entry for Alex Boyd and the Royal Photographic Society collection held at the V&A.
Life and work
Education Boyd holds an MA (Hons) in History of Art from the University of Glasgow in 2007, and an MSc in Archival and Museum Studies from the Humanities and Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) from the same institution in 2009., Alex Boyd - University Education. Retrieved on 8 January 2015. In 2023 Boyd was awarded a PhD from the University of Northumbria., Alex Boyd - University Education. Retrieved on 22 January 2024.
Projects
Boyd has worked on several long-term landscape photography projects that have concentrated on depictions of the Scottish and Irish landscape, with a particular focus on conservation, archaeology and issues such as the presence of the military in remote places., Stills - Projects 20 - Tir an Airm.
Sonnets
The series Sonnets, a collaboration with Scottish Makar (Poet Laureate) Edwin Morgan , Edwin Morgan Official Site – Alex Boyd & "Sonnets from Scotland". Retrieved on 26 September 2008. made headlines in 2008 when Boyd had several of his works projected 84 metres high onto Europe's largest building, the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest,, The BBC- Art 'covers' Romanian Parliament. Retrieved on 26 September 2008. and covered the entire University Square as part of the "White Night in Bucharest" Festival.Irvine Times, The (17 August 2008). "Display on Europe's largest building". In March 2010 Boyd's work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Scottish Parliament Building, where it was celebrated in a Parliamentary motion., Scottish Parliament congratulates Alex Boyd In 2014 the series was displayed at the Museum of the Image in the Netherlands, and was the subject of a short film by director Michael Prince. , "Breda Photo Festival - The Wander - Caspar David Friedrich & Alex Boyd". In 2009 Boyd also worked with Edwin Morgan when he participated in Anthony Gormley's One and Other in Trafalgar Square in London., Scottish Poetry Library – Alex Boyd & Edwin Morgan
Point of the Deliverance / Point a' Tarrthaidh
In 2012 Boyd began work on The Point of the Deliverance when he was appointed a Fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in the Republic of Ireland. The series documents a special area of conservation and the issues facing it due to the development of the Corrib Gas project, which resulted in the Corrib Gas Controversy. With an antique field camera, Boyd worked intensively for 3 months across the area, using the wet-plate collodion process to document local people and landscapes, paying special attention to sites of archaeological and historical significance., The Morning News - Point of the Deliverance - Retrieved on 11 January 2015.
A labour-intensive process, using wet-plate collodion required Boyd to carry equipment over several miles of moorland, including chemicals, a dark tent, and the camera itself. Images from the series were exhibited at the Royal Ulster Academy, and would form the basis an ongoing project to document the edges of the Irish Gaeltacht and the Scottish Gàidhealtachd., BBC News - In the Irish Wilderness - Retrieved on 11 January 2015. Boyd was announced as the Royal Scottish Academy's Artist in Residence at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye in Scotland for 2012–13, a role which would see his work explore Scottish Gaelic culture and landscape. Working with acclaimed Japanese photographer Takeshi Shikama, Boyd made work focusing on the Cuillin mountain range and the Quiraing, as well as the clearance villages of Skye. The series also took Boyd to the Outer Hebrides, documenting the landscapes of Lewis and Harris as well as the remote archipelago of St Kilda. The resultant large-scale prints were displayed prominently at the Royal Scottish Academy as part of their Resident 13 Exhibition in Winter 2013., Royal Scottish Academy - Resident 13 Exhibition - Retrieved on 13 January 2015.
The series was released as a publication by Kozu Books in 2023, with extensive coverage in National Geographic,, National Geographic – An antique Process helps this photographer capture coastlines bound by Celtic soul. Retrieved on 11 February 2024. The British Journal of Photography,, The British Journal of Photography - Alex Boyd's wet plate photographs chronicle a journey across the Atlantic edges of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved on 11 February 2024. The Times,, The Times – A Victorian view of the modern landscape - Retrieved on 11 February 2024. The BBC, The BBC – The Photographer using a Victorian process to picture Scotland - Retrieved on 11 February 2024. and Black and White magazine, Black and White magazine - Alex Boyd cover - Retrieved on 11 February 2024. among others. It features contributions from writer David Gange, poet Moya Cannon and artist Will Maclean.
Land of the Army / Tìr an Airm
In 2017 Boyd released the Saltire Award shortlisted book St Kilda - The Silent Islands, a study of the North Atlantic islands that are home to a World Heritage Site and an active military base using a camera which once used to photographer Fay Godwin., The National - A Focus on St Kilda's Past - Retrieved on 11 February 2024 . This work served as the foundation for Tìr an Airm, a study of Scotland's military training areas, the Defence Training Estate. Exhibited at Stills Gallery in Edinburgh in 2021, the series concentrated on the bombing ranges of Cape Wrath, Tain Air Weapons Range, Kirkcudbright Training Centre, and the Dundrennan Range, the site of Depleted Uranium testing., Fleming Collection - Outdoor Shoots. Retrieved on 11 February 2024 An accompanying film featured a narration in Gaelic by Mary Ann Kennedy., Stills - Projects 20 - Tir an Airm. Retrieved on 11 February 2024
Other projects
A commission for the 'Year of Natural Scotland' and Cape Farewell, a series of artists were asked to respond to the peatland landscape of the Isle of Lewis, celebrating the role which the blanket bog moorland plays towards global climate regulation., Highland Print Studio - Sexy Peat - Retrieved on 13 January 2015. Boyd spent several weeks working on and in the landscape, visiting Shielings at the heart of the moorland while recording archaeological finds, and learning about life on the moor from artist and resident Anne Campbell., Sexy Peat Blog - The Red Wind, Life on the Lewis Moor - Retrieved on 13 January 2015. The resultant series of work Stacashal was exhibited throughout Scotland in 2013, most notably at the Royal Botanics in Edinburgh, and was made using the photogravure process. , Science Magazine 2013 - Seachange Exhibition Review- Retrieved on 13 January 2015. A second body of work called The Isle of Rust (An t-Eilean Ruadh) was also exhibited, utilising rust from abandoned moorland machinery to produce images of Lewis using the collodion process., Leonardo - Glasgow University Seachange Review 2013 - Seachange Exhibition Review- Retrieved on 13 January 2015. Boyd would later publish the series as a book in 2019, featuring an introductory essay by writer and critic Jonathan Meades and academic Dan Hicks., Bella Caledonia - The Isle of Rust – A portrait of Lewis & Harris. Retrieved on 11 February 2024.
Film and television
In 2011 as part of the Glasgow Film Festival a short film 'Sonnets' about Boyd's work was shown at the GFT. In 2012 Boyd appeared in a BBC series about Victorian photographer Francis Frith alongside presenter John Sergeant, explaining and demonstrating the wet-plate collodion process at Stirling Castle., British Photo History – Alex Boyd on location In 2013 Boyd worked alongside notable fashion photographer Rankin discussing the work of early photographic pioneers Hill & Adamson on the ITV programme Britain's Secret Homes. Using the same Edinburgh studio used by Robert Adamson, a calotype portrait of Rankin was created by Boyd and Fionnbharr Ó Súilleabháin during a snowstorm., Fionnbhar Ó Súilleabháin – How Boyd and I shot Rankin More recently Boyd appeared on the BBC series Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs talking to presenter Paul Murton about photographer George Washington Wilson., BBC – Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs – a Fyne Adventure
Other activities
Boyd has worked as an academic, producing several peer-reviewed articles. , Alex Boyd - Orcid ID He has also worked as a Museum Curator, and in 2012 was congratulated by the Scottish Parliament for his work in increasing access to heritage and archaeological objects in the South West of Scotland., Scottish Parliamentary Motion S4M-04019 - Future Museum He was involved in the campaign for Scottish Independence, and was an early member of arts organisation National Collective, being named as one of their Cultural Ambassadors in 2012., National Collective - Creative Ambassador Alex Boyd His images were included in the publication 'Inspired by Independence' with a body of work titled 'Shadow on the Landscape' examining the role of RNAD Coulport, home of the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent. , Word Power Books - Inspired By Independence Boyd is a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, a member of Accademia Apulia, Alex Boyd - Accademia Apulia Members Page and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
In 2014 Boyd worked with artist and composer Hanna Tuulikki on her project Away With the Birds for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as providing album artwork for BBC Folk singer of the year Bella Hardy., Hanna Tuulikki - Away With the Birds, Bella Hardy - With the Dawn Album artwork
In 2021 Boyd released two books to raise money for charity. The first ‘The Broken Land’ with Australian musician and writer Nick Cave, and the second ‘Hallaig’ featured the work of poet Sorley Maclean., The Scotsman - Nick Cave backs translation of his lyrics into Gaelic for new Scottish island photography book, Biblioscapes - Alex Boyd & Sorley Maclean - Hallaig
Throughout 2022 and 2023, Boyd has been actively involved in "Looking North Through Art," a public engagement platform. As part of the program, he has delivered two talks, Looking North Through Art: Alex Boyd contributing to the platform's mission of fostering dialogue about landscape and energy ethics in Scotland and beyond.
According to the John Muir Trust, Boyd is currently writing and researching a book on the cultural history of Scotland's mountain landscapes. Alex Boyd - Recipient of Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant. He is also a regular contributor to Archipelago magazine. Archipelago - Issue 2:2.
Publications
The Point of the Deliverance. Kozu Books, 2023. The Isle of Rust: A Portrait of Lewis and Harris. Luath Books, 2019. St Kilda - The Silent Islands. Luath Books, 2018.
Awards 2010 The Dewar Award, The 2010 Dewar Award - Alex Boyd 2010 Arts Trust for Scotland Award 2012 Arts Trust for Scotland Award 2012 Ballinglen Arts Foundation Fellowship 2012 Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust 2012 Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts 2018 Fellow of the National Library of Scotland, Alex Boyd - Graham Brown Fellow 2018 2021 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Collections Boyd's work is held by the following public collections:
National Gallery of Scotland. Yale Center for British Art. Royal Scottish Academy. The collections of The University of Glasgow,, University of Glasgow: Manuscripts Catalogue - Portrait photographs of Edwin Morgan University of St Andrews, The University of the Highlands & Islands and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig The Scottish Maritime Museum.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2023 The Remote Part, Perth Centre of Photography, Australia, Alex Boyd - The Remote Part at PCP