Paul Strand photographic works
Paul Strand, 1954

In 1954, the great American photographer Paul Strand travelled to the Hebridean islands off the west coast of Scotland to document the remote communities who lived there. He shot pictures of the people and landscapes of Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay and then edited them down to the 105 plates published in his classic 1962 book Tîr aÂ’Mhurain (Land of Bent Grass). The project was part of StrandÂ’s ongoing attempt to record the ideal community. The nine photographs from the series purchased by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery are original, richly textured prints made by Strand himself. Among them are representative pictures from all three genres featured in the book: portraits, landscapes and abstract details. Their beauty, rarity and subject matter makes it all the more resonant that they are the first works by this renowned photographer to enter a public collection in Scotland.
More information
Title of artwork, date
Paul Strand photographic works, 1954
Date supported
2015
Medium and material
Gelatin-silver print
Dimensions
Various dimensions Ranging from 11.4 × 14.6cm to 19.3 × 24.1cm
Grant
20000
Total cost
37124.004

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