How Hamish ‘went mental’ for two years to pick up four top awards in ten days

07/12/10

‘I want each viewer to place themselves firmly in the space I have recorded and feel the abject loneliness and incarceration.” Hamish Scott-Brown.

Ayrshire-based photographer Hamish Scott-Brown has just set the UK photographic world alight after picking up four major photographic awards for an ‘outstanding’ body of work set in bleak and derelict European mental asylums.

In the space of ten days Scott-Brown (46) who shoots fine art, fashion and weddings, collected Fellowships from the British Institute of Professional Photographers (BIPP), the Master Photographers Association (MPA); and an Associateship from the Royal Photographic Society. He also scooped the BIPP’s prestigious Peter Grugeon award, for the Institute’s best Fellowship panel of the year.

Scott-Brown’s Fellowship project represents two years’ work and extensive travel in northern Europe, including locations in Italy, German and Latvia.

He said: “My project, Manicomio, originally shot for my Masters degree in photography, invites speculation on the isolation, the loneliness and the memory of man’s inhumanity to man. I want each viewer to place themselves firmly in the space I have recorded and feel the abject loneliness and incarceration.”

Scott-Brown believes his time spent working on the images mirrors the time spent by the former inhabitants of these institutions: “Blending the shots into a singular printed image was an intentional way of me suggesting how time for those held within the four walls might perceive its passing.” he said.

Shot using a tripod-mounted Nikon DSLR and wide-angle lenses, Scott-Brown took over 3,000 individual frames and then spent many days working in Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom to create the final shots for his award-winning panel.

He worked closely with Glasgow-based prolab Loxley Colour to produce the full body of work.

He added: “My photographs are highly detailed with many composite layers used to create final imagery. The prints produced by Loxley made a real difference; they were just superb.”

Loxley Colour marketing manager Chris Kay said: “This is an outstanding body of work created by a very talented photographer. We have worked closely with Hamish on this highly original and compelling project, helping with both test and high quality finished prints too. It’s not all about photographers just working closely with their mentors, it’s about photographers working closely with their prolab,”