Thanks to the pioneering work of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson during the 1840s, Scotland can claim a key place in the early development of photography as an artistic medium. Hill and Adamson’s richly resonant photographs form the basis of a collection numbering some 27,000 images currently held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It is soon to be rehoused in the new Scottish National Photography Centre, currently under development at the former Royal High School in Edinburgh – closely adjacent to Rock House, where Hill and Adamson had their studio.

As well as other classic and contemporary Scottish photographers like Thomas and J Craig Annan, William Donaldson, Oscar Marzoroli, Grace Robertson, Calum Colvin and David William, the Scottish National Photography collection includes work by major international names such as Bill Brant, Humphrey Spender, Eve Arnold, Annie Liebovitz and Inge Morath.