This year, the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) – a charity promoting contemporary art and architecture in Scotland – celebrates its bicentennial anniversary. And in honor of the moment, it will host an exhibition covering 200 years of its home country’s photographic history.
PhotoDalkeith RSA 200 will be hosted at the iconic Dalkeith Castle, just outside Edinburgh, and will display the photography of some 120 artists, exploring the medium’s development across the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
“We are delighted to present this exhibition at Dalkeith Palace, which traces the evolution of photography from its pioneering beginnings to the present day,” said Calum Colvin, one of the exhibition curators at the RSA.
On display are prominent photos from the Buccleuch Collection, one of the world's largest private art and decorative collections, owned by the Buccleuch Family, for whom Dalkeith Castle was built in 1711.
Among the exhibited collection items will be a portrait of Lady Constance (1877-1970), daughter of the 6th Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, thought to have been taken in 1885, when she was 8 years old.
Other notable works to be featured include Wendy McMurdo’s The Games Hall. Originally trained as a painter, McMurdo became a photographer in the 1980s and was an early pioneer in experimenting with digital manipulation.
There’s also more recent imagery from Leena Nammariy (2021-22), whose multidisciplinary practice combines photography and printmaking to explore themes of identity, community and social engagement.
Entry to PhotoDalkeith RSA 200 costs £3 (approximately $4 / AU$5.75) and the exhibition will open Friday to Sunday, 10:0-16:00, from August 22 to September 27 2026. The exhibition extends beyond the Palace walls with large-scale outdoor photographic installations and interactive photo frames throughout Dalkeith Country Park.
The RSA is hosting celebrations throughout its bicentennial anniversary, which you can learn more about, along with finding further details of the photography exhibition, at its official website.
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