Edinburgh | August 2012

Through the Looking Glass, Dimly ran from 5th-18th August as part of the 2012 Edinburgh Art Festival at The Old Ambulance Depot, an alternative exhibition space managed by Newhaven Advertising Agency in Edinburgh’s east.

The exhibition was Andrew Follows’ international debut and Rosita McKenzie’s first collaboration with an international artist. Both artists exhibited recent and new photographs many of which had not been seen previously in Scotland.

For the past 4 years, Andrew has documented the effects of the devastating 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in the Victorian Highlands, Australia. Rosita, although having never ‘seen’ Andrew’s work, responded to it by documenting the effects of the unusual forest fires in the Scottish Highlands in early 2011. Again, Rosita responded to Andrew’s night photographs of the Southern Hemisphere with her own nocturnal Northern Hemisphere images.

Underpinning the artists’ subject matter are themes of reflection, mirroring and opposites. With each artists’ work deliberately hung on opposite sides of the gallery space, audiences were invited to not only compare Andrew and Rosita’s different approaches to the same subject, but also their differing photographic process. For Rosita who is completely blind, photography provides ‘a voice’ that challenges traditional photographic practices and dispels the myth that totally blind people like herself cannot possess vision and artistic imagination. Using photography as an agent for communication, understanding and remembering, it preserves live moments as vivid and powerful memories. However, for Andrew who has partial sight, photography is a tool that enables him to see glimpses of his fading visual world. However, it is not just a way to experience sight as fully sighted people do; it is about mastering the physical and mental challenges of taking a photograph.

Click here to view the exhibition catalogue.

Click below to listen to the audio guide description of the exhibition:

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Visitor Comments:

“A fascinating exhibition beautifully presented. I especially enjoyed the audio accompaniment. Well done fellas! I left with lots of questions which is always a good sign!”

“Fascinating concept. An inspiration to keep being creative. Thanks.” 

“ Fabulous. A new way of seeing for me, and that ‘seeing’ operates on many different levels. We deny ourselves of a splendid beauty if we believe physical sight is the limit of ‘seeing’, of knowing the world around and ourselves.”

“Remarkable, captures the emotion of the moment.”

“A great exhibition – thoroughly put on and presented: a very physical form of photography. Well done, Andrew Rosita and Kate! Thanks!” 

“Absolutely wonderful. Beautiful imagery. Audio commentary very informative.”

Exhibition Install and Preview Images

 

 

 

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