Ed Smith Photography

Ed Smith Photography Adventure, lifestyle and landscape photographer

Excited for the week ahead installing Uisge Spè at OPENSPACE • THE VAULT • in Grantown-on-Spey alongside Joanna Wilson A...
07/09/2026

Excited for the week ahead installing Uisge Spè at OPENSPACE • THE VAULT • in Grantown-on-Spey alongside Joanna Wilson Art and Yellow Broom.
I’m looking forward to showing the work to another new audience on the banks of the River as the exhibit moves downstream!
It’s going to be in Grantown from 11th Sept - 7th Oct and whilst it will be open to view Monday to Saturday each week, I’m going to be at the exhibit each Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, 10:30am - 4pm.
I’m looking forward to conversations not just about the work, but about the Spey’s influence and environment as well as broader awareness of how vitally important our natural waterways and river catchment environments are to us all. These are the conversations that have fuelled this work.

Next stop for Uisge Spè is OPENSPACE • THE VAULT • launching next Friday evening from 6pm 🤩 this is going to get interes...
03/09/2026

Next stop for Uisge Spè is OPENSPACE • THE VAULT • launching next Friday evening from 6pm 🤩 this is going to get interesting as we’ll have the full installation of the exhibit complete with canoe courtesy of Yellow Broom and Joanna Wilson Art (it fits with a few cm to spare!) plus a short film which is going to be screened via a projector in the The Vault.
I’m going to be on site at the exhibit in the days after launch, which I’ll post more info about soon, alongside more dates for the diary whilst the exhibit is in Grantown-on-Spey.
Can’t wait to see the exhibit in OPENSPACE and present more of this work in Strathspey!
This exhibit has been made possible by the support of The Cairngorms Trust so a huge thank you to them as it moves downstream!

As this exhibit heads to Boat of Garten Community Hall tomorrow, where the series might shift around a wee bit, I though...
13/08/2026

As this exhibit heads to Boat of Garten Community Hall tomorrow, where the series might shift around a wee bit, I thought I’d share this set of photographs, which have been side-by-side in Eleven41 Gallery these past few weeks. It’s a wall which has been the subject of much reflection for visitors, with many starting and ending their circuit around the gallery in front of these four images.
It’s a set within the set that sums up the balancing act and of this work, perhaps its most pensive chapter so far.
I was moved to read a comment from a thoughtful visitor today (last image) which essentially summarised my overriding motivation in creating and exhibiting this body of work.
Thanks as ever to the The Cairngorms Trust for supporting this exhibition! It opens in Boat Hall from 6:30pm tomorrow evening and is in town for a few weeks… I will make a post with specific opening dates/times around their other events as a busy community hub!

VisitCairngorms

About 25km burnt, but we can’t put a number on how much has been saved. A few pictures of a community of volunteers from...
11/08/2026

About 25km burnt, but we can’t put a number on how much has been saved. A few pictures of a community of volunteers from all walks, who continue to rally around the wildfire. I like the last one, walking away from charred ground having rinsed faces in the burn and facing all the colour and greenery that is, and will continue to be, synonymous with Abernethy.
RSPB Loch Garten Abernethy Cairngorms National Park

Heading downstream later this week as the Uisge Spè exhibition, from my journeys down and along the River Spey, opens in...
10/08/2026

Heading downstream later this week as the Uisge Spè exhibition, from my journeys down and along the River Spey, opens in Boat of Garten Community Hall on Friday evening, doors open from 6:30pm.
It’s a community space that I’m incredibly excited to bring the exhibition to, firstly because Boat of Garten has always been an awesome stopping off point on the river - coffee in the Osprey Coffee House is fantastic and the The Village Shop | Boat of Garten is the ultimate local re-supply shop!
Via the ‘Boat Talks’ winter speaker series last December (fundraising for the Hall) it was also the first location in which I presented the ‘Spey Project’, as it was then, to a public audience via my talk. I was nervous to see what the uptake would be but relieved to have a full hall, alongside a strong sense to connection to the river in this community.
Thank you all for welcoming me back with the support of the The Cairngorms Trust to show you how this project has developed! I hope to see you all on Friday evening to show you the photographs and chat over a drink!

‘So good to see art and conservation collaborate. Seeing the beauty of our world surely is a major step towards protecti...
03/08/2026

‘So good to see art and conservation collaborate. Seeing the beauty of our world surely is a major step towards protecting it’.

A comment from the Uisge Spè visitor book last week, which pretty much sums up the method I’m hoping for in displaying this work about the River Spey.

Thank you for your kind comment, and for seeing beauty in some of the grittier pieces of this work. It means a lot.

The exhibit continues to be on show at Eleven41 Gallery for the time being due to the on-going wildfire near Glenmore and Ryvoan. The next scheduled launch venue is on the 14th Aug at Boat of Garten Community Hall which I’m incredibly excited about as a fantastically active community venue where I spoke about the project last winter.

Alongside Glenmore Visitor Centre and Cafe I look forward to announcing additional plans in the near future! As ever thank you to The Cairngorms Trust for their support in the exhibition tour.

RED | BLACK | BLACK | RED _______________and the space in between. 📍 OPENSPACE | THE VAULT59 High Street, Grantown-on-Sp...
24/07/2026

RED | BLACK | BLACK | RED _______________
and the space in between.

📍 OPENSPACE | THE VAULT
59 High Street, Grantown-on-Spey
📅 3–31 August 2026

The Cairngorms have long been known as Am Monadh Ruadh, the Red Hills. Yet within the landscape another colour quietly emerges: Dubh, the black of deep corries, peat and shadows.
A group exhibition spanning the disciples of painting, sculpture, design , photography, jewellery and installation, each artist offering their own interpretation.

This exhibition context seems so poignant as we currently sit within this devastating fire.

OPENSPACE | The Vault 
Contemporary Art Gallery & Exhibition Venue
 
Supporting Contemporary Art in the Highlands.

59 High Street, Grantown-on-Spey, Ph26 3EG

Insta. OPENSPACE • THE VAULT • Fb.

Andrew McIntosh | Andrew McIntosh
Andy Spink | Andy Spink
Aubin Stewart | Aubin Stewart
Cathleen Nicol | C.NICOL Bags | Scotland
Dan Cottam | Dan Cottam
Ed Smith | Ed Smith | UK
Hazel Mcleod | | H a z e l M c L e o d
Jess Greaves | Jess Greaves
Joanna Wilson |Joanna Wilson Art
Molly Kent | Molly H Kent
Naomi Huq | Naomi Huq re*caste photography
Naomi McIntosh | Naomi Mcintosh
Niven Photography | Graham Niven
Stevi Benson | Stevi Fiona Benson
Steve Haden | Steve Haden
Yellow Broom | Yellow Broom

Scottish contemporaryartexhibition

‘Fringes of Abernethy’ 💔This place is in our hearts and minds everyday this past week amidst the wildfire, and continues...
22/07/2026

‘Fringes of Abernethy’ 💔

This place is in our hearts and minds everyday this past week amidst the wildfire, and continues to be front and centre for our local communities and organisations.
Along with Glenmore Visitor Centre and Cafe we’ve postponed plans for the opening of Uisge Spè in the Glenmore cafe and info centre until the team and local businesses are back up and rolling. The plan is to launch when we can, but unconfirmed at the moment, and hopefully the project can add to renewed momentum as and when the Glenmore area is accessible again.
As is the case for everyone in the area we continue to follow the advice of the Cairngorms National Park and local emergency services in respecting the restrictions the area just now.

Had an unexpected trip down memory lane recently, doing a shoot for part of a National Lottery campaign on the side of ...
12/07/2026

Had an unexpected trip down memory lane recently, doing a shoot for part of a National Lottery campaign on the side of the Forth & Clyde Canal near Glasgow. It’s nearly 20 years since I started to run along the same stretch, and about 15 years since I took some wanders with my camera as a means to open conversations with members of the communities which backed onto the canal. The area I was in has changed a lot, it’s lush and thriving as a beautiful green venue that’s accessible to all, safe and used by many. Unfortunately I wasn’t in town long enough to take more of the broader area in or take a wander to see if I recognised any faces. But maybe time to re-visit this as another waterway to connect with, as I just found my old negatives and notes from those wanders with the camera and there’s something in it.
First shot is Bob from the community project I was photographing the other day, who is a part of a team of volunteers who have put in 1000’s of hours to create and maintain a budding nature reserve. A lovely guy with an incredible story and he was a big help on that bike getting my lighting gear to location!
Second shot is a newly scanned negative from ‘back in the day’ (about 2010) when I’d stopped to chat with a crew of lads who were fairly excited after a football match. I remember them declaring me ‘bold as brass for coming down here with a camera like that’ and having a go on my bike, but becoming less interested in my gear because the front brake of the bike didn’t work and they laughed their arses off when I had to change a roll of film after 10 shots.

A complete curveball for me as I was in London and the best chance to spend some time with my good friend was to follow...
27/04/2026

A complete curveball for me as I was in London and the best chance to spend some time with my good friend was to follow him around ‘a metropolitan bicycle ride with a bit of style’.
I had my two small 35mm analogue cameras over my shoulder and from looking the event up online it seemed like the perfect chance to shoot the first b+w film that I’ve locked and loaded in many moons. Cheers for having a good stock (and being right opposite a great place for a coffee!) and I even made it into to gather inspiration over some top grub before catching Jee at his lunch stop, and thereby teleported back in time via hanging out at this very fun, slightly crazy (in the best way) and totally immersive event.
The B+W certainly suited the retro angle, I love that you have to look hard in some of these to find the hints of modern culture. I’ve also included a few colour shots at the end as one camera had a roll loaded and a few angles caught my eye. All in all an incredibly fun afternoon chilling with a good mate (as much as he could in tweeds) and shooting film!
Cheers for the fast turn around as always!

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