Frances Scott ‘A9’ – As Part of Stirling Photography Festival

About the Exhibition ‘A9’ by Frances Scott:

“The A9 is Scotland’s longest road, running 269 miles from the lowlands to the country’s north coast. Taking root in the central belt, it runs northwards through Perthshire and into the Cairngorms, winding between mountains along the same route taken by centuries-old military roads. Beyond Inverness, a series of bridges span the wavering coastline before the road narrows, clinging to the steep edges of the land. Its final stretch cuts inland across a plateau of peat bogs before coming to an end at the port of Scrabster where it meets the sea.

My life has been punctuated by journeys along this road, its length linking two separate halves of myself: one part which belonged with my mum in the south, and the other with my dad and grandparents in the north. Later, Orkney became my home, and the road switched orientation; I lived at the north end, while independence and adulthood lay waiting in the cities to the south.

In the days following my grandfather’s death in 2014, I took his car from Wick and travelled the road alone for the first time, tracing both its historic and present routes. I was able to stop and photograph what had previously been a fleeting landscape, seeking out and collecting these signifiers of north and south, of belonging and freedom, of home and escape.”

Website: frances-scott.co.uk
Twitter: @FrancesScott / https://twitter.com/francesscott
Instagram: @_francesscott / https://www.instagram.com/_francesscott/
Publisher: Another Place Press
Frances’s ‘A9’ series has been published as a limited edition photozine by Another Place Press, an independent publisher based in the Scottish Highlands. Available to purchase here: https://anotherplacepress.bigcartel.com/product/a9-frances-scott
Podcast interview about the series: https://biblioscapes.com/in-discussion/frances-scott

 

Stirling Photography Festival:

Following a year of restrictions, our Creative Team came together in early 2021, full of hope for the tear ahead and to plan for our annual festival. Reflecting on an unprecedented year, when it felt as if time had melted one year into the next, and we were being carried along on a tide of uncertainty, we landed on the theme of Flow for this year’s festival. We at Stirling Photography Festival were delighted to be working again with the Tolbooth Stirling and to showcase Frances’ A9 monograph.

This event was made possible with thanks to Stirling Council and Scene Stirling.