Dr Patricia Macdonald
Job title:
Honorary Fellow
Biography
Dr Patricia Macdonald is an environmental researcher; an award-winning artist photographer whose powerful, boundary-crossing aerial imagery – made in collaboration with Professor Angus Macdonald of ESALA, University of Edinburgh, through the Aerographica partnership – is exhibited, published and held in public and private collections internationally; and an academic (Honorary Fellow; co-organiser and lecturer in Honours Course on Cultural Landscape; visiting lecturer on environmental history, conservation, perception and iconography; visiting critic and external assessor for fine-art-photography- and museum-related projects, Edinburgh University and elsewhere). She is the author/co-author of ten books and numerous articles and her work appears, or is discussed, in a wide range of other publications, in both environmental and art contexts. See below, and:
www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-home/angus-macdonald;
https://nationalgalleries.org/search?search=Patricia%20Macdonald
Current / recent group exhibitions and commissions
Several of the Macdonalds’ environmental aerial images form part of the following exhibitions:
National Galleries of Scotland (Scottish National Portrait Gallery): Planes, Trains and Automobiles (2 June 2018 – 13 January 2019); www.nationalgalleries.org
and Edinburgh City Art Centre for the Edinburgh Art Festival: In Focus: Scottish Photography (until 12 May 2019); www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk.
Recent artwork commissions include those for:
- the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh: a time-lapse composite aerial artwork relating to natural regeneration of pinewood and to environmental disturbance and resilience, made in the Cairngorms between 1988 and 2016, for the exhibition and publication After the Storm (2017), part of the Macdonalds’ ongoing projects The Unwild and Re:Wild;
- the new South Glasgow Hospitals: Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (Beacon Project): part of Working well: People and space (2015);
- the High Museum of Art, Atlanta / National Galleries of Scotland: Bunkered terrain: Scottish golf landscapes, (2011-14), part of their ongoing project The Play grounds, on the ecological effects of leisure landscapes.
Patricia also has considerable experience in the museum and natural-heritage sectors, both as a staff member (Assistant Keeper, National Museums of Scotland) and at board level (Member of Main Board, Scottish Natural Heritage; Trustee, the John Muir Trust; Board Member, Stills Gallery). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and of the Institute for Contemporary Scotland.
She has authored/co-authored ten books, including The Hebrides: An aerial view of a cultural landscape (2010, with Angus Macdonald); Airworks (2001); Once in Europa (1999, with John Berger and Angus Macdonald); Order & Chaos: Views of Gaia (1990); and Shadow of Heaven (1989).
Recent journal articles where her artwork is the principal subject are listed below, and recent books featuring her work include: Thames & Hudson’s definitive international survey of landscape photography, Landmark: The fields of landscape photography (Ewing, W A, 2014); Flight and the Artistic Imagination (Smiles, S, 2012); Photography and Flight (Cosgrove, D and W Fox, 2010); Scottish Photography: A History (Normand, T, 2007); and The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (Lenman, R, Ed., 2005/6: Feature article: Lenman, R, 'Conceptual Landscapes: The Aerial Photographs of Patricia Macdonald').
Selected Publications
as author/co-author and/or artist-photographer:
2017: 'Disturbance and resilience in a Highland glen', Macdonald, Patricia, in After the Storm, Edwards, Ian (Ed.), Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh
2016: 'Patricia Macdonald in collaboration with Angus Macdonald', Macdonald, Patricia, Studies in Photography, Scottish Society for the History of Photography (SSHoP), Edinburgh, 2016:1, pp 18-27
2016: 'Change in Glen Feshie: Patricia Macdonald looks at environmental change in a dynamic Cairngorms landscape', Macdonald, Patricia, The Nature of Scotland, 2016: Autumn/Winter, Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness and Battleby, pp 12-17
2010: The Hebrides: An aerial view of a cultural landscape (co-author/photographer), Macdonald, Angus & Patricia, with foreword by James Hunter. Birlinn, Edinburgh
2009: ‘Marginal lands? An overview of the environmental contexts of cultural landscapes in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’, Macdonald, Patricia & Angus, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 15, No. 3, pp 108-41
2005: ‘Emergent landscapes’, Journal of Visual Art Practice 4: 2+3, pp 83-96
2005: ‘Overviews of Scotland’s earth heritage’, Macdonald, Patricia, in Earth Heritage: The geological and landscape conservation magazine, 23, pp 14-15
2003: ‘”Naming” and “framing” land: labels and representation in land-use change, debate and conflict’ in Deterritorialisations...Revisioning Landscapes and Politics: Dorrian, Mark & Gillian Rose (Eds), Black Dog Publications, London/New York
2001: Airworks, Macdonald, Patricia in collaboration with Angus Macdonald, Catalogue, with essay by Duncan Macmillan, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh/Boukamel Contemporary Art, London
1999: Once in Europa, Berger, John & Patricia Macdonald, (artist-photographer with Angus Macdonald, pilot; story by John Berger), Bloomsbury, London
1998: ‘The experience of landscape character’ in ‘Landscape character of Scotland’s coasts’, Hughes, Rebecca & Patricia Macdonald, in Scotland’s Living Coastline, The Stationery Office/Scottish Natural Heritage, Edinburgh
1998: ‘Enjoying landscape: ways of seeing the land’ in Scotland’s Natural Heritage, 1998, 13
1995: Scottish Society for the History of Photography Annual Photographer's Lecture: 'To remain dissolved...: aspects of photography and language' in Studies in Photography, SSHoP c/o National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
1994: Editor/writer: 26 photographic entries in Larousse Dictionary of Women, Larousse, Paris/London
1992: Views of Gaia, Images from exhibition to mark the UK Presidency of the European Council of Ministers (artist-photographer), London, British Council
1992: Granite & Green, Macdonald, Angus & Patricia (co-author/photographer), with introduction by James Naughtie, Mainstream, Edinburgh
1992: Contributor of 12 entries on photography to Chambers Scottish Biographical Dictionary, Chambers, Edinburgh/New York
1991: ‘Aerial perspectives’ in Photoresearcher 3, European Society for the History of Photography
1991: The Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Macdonald, Angus & Patricia (co-author/photographer), with introduction by George Mackay Brown, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London (later editions >2001)
1990: Order & Chaos: Views of Gaia: Photographs by Patricia Macdonald, Catalogue, with introduction by Rebecca Coggins and essays by James Lawson and James Lovelock, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh
1989: Shadow of Heaven, (sole author/artist-photographer), with essay by novelist Dominic Cooper, Aurum, London/Rizzoli, New York
1989: Above Edinburgh, Macdonald, Angus & Patricia (co-author/photographer), with introduction by Neal Ascherson and poems by Norman MacCaig, Mainstream, Edinburgh
1988: The Scenery of Scotland: The Structure Beneath (editorial/design, & aerial photography in collaboration with Angus Macdonald, author W G Baird), National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh (later editions & reprints to 2009)
1980: Plants Invade the Land, (co-author & illustrator with W G Chaloner), HMSO/Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh
as principal subject (major articles):
2016: 'Patricia Macdonald in collaboration with Angus Macdonald', Macdonald, Patricia, Studies in Photography, Scottish Society for the History of Photography (SSHoP), Edinburgh, 2016:1, pp 18-27 (invited article for 30th Anniversary Edition)
2010: '’Edge: Hebrides’ by Patricia Macdonald in collaboration with Angus Macdonald, in the form of a conversation', Lawson, James and Patricia Macdonald, in Portfolio: the catalogue of contemporary photography in Britain, Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh, pp 32-7
2005: ‘Conceptual landscapes: the aerial photographs of Patricia Macdonald’ (Special Feature entry), in Lenman, Robin (Ed.), The Oxford Companion to the Photograph, Oxford, Oxford University Press, p 9 and two full-page plates opp. pp 42-3
2004: ‘Patricia Macdonald in conversation with Sara Stevenson’, History of Photography, 28, 1, Frontispiece & pp 43-56
2000: ‘Patricia Macdonald: Emergent Landscapes’, Lawson, James, in Portfolio: the catalogue of contemporary photography in Britain, 31, Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh, pp 38-43
1999: ‘The middle distance: on the photography of Patricia Macdonald', Dorrian, Mark, in Katalog, 11: 2, Museet for Fotokunst, Ødense, Denmark
1994: 'Views of Gaia: Patricia Macdonald', Xu Yanjuan, Chinese Photography, 1994, Beijing
1989: 'The Marks of Someone Travelling: Overviews and insights: Considerations of Patricia Macdonald's Aerial Art', Cooper, Thomas Joshua, Portfolio 3, Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh
as subject in books/group catalogues/commentary/portfolios:
2014: Ewing, William A, Landmark: The Fields of Landscape Photography, Thames & Hudson, pp 194 & 250
2014: Clarke, Michael, The Art of Golf, with essay by Kenneth McConkey, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Endpapers and pp 40-43
2012: Smiles, Sam, Flight and the Artistic Imagination, with foreword by Steven Parissien, Compton Verney, Warwickshire/Paul Holberton, London, p. 40
2012: High Museum of Art, Atlanta in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, The Art of Golf, with essays by Rand Jerris, Catherine M Lewis, Richard Anthony Lewis, Jordan Mearns & Christian Tico Seifert, High Museum of Art, Atlanta ‘Scottish Courses Today: New Commission by Patricia Macdonald': ‘Bunkered terrain: Scottish golf landscapes, 2011’, part of the ongoing series ‘The Play Grounds’), pp 54-5
2010: Cosgrove, Denis and William L Fox, Photography and Flight, Reaktion Books – Exposures, London, pp 118, 120, 123, 140
2007: Normand, Tom, Scottish Photography: A history, Luath Press, Edinburgh, pp 6, 8, 71, 73-5, 91, 174, 176, 180
2005: ‘Conceptual landscapes: the aerial photographs of Patricia Macdonald’ (Special Feature entry), in Lenman, Robin (Ed.), The Oxford Companion to the Photograph, Oxford, Oxford University Press, p 9 and two full-page plates opp. pp 42-3
2004: Gillanders, Robin, The Photographic Portrait, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, pp 23, 24, 25
2001: Stevenson, Sara and Duncan Forbes, A Companion guide to photography in the National Galleries of Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (and later editions)
2001: DIN Art 4, Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation/Edition Braus, Heidelberg
1997: Spalding, Julian, GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) Catalogue, Glasgow Art Galleries, Glasgow
1995: Stevenson, Sara (Ed.), Light from the dark room: A celebration of Scottish photography, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
1993: 'Patricia Macdonald: ‘Salt.Sand', in Foster, A, K Gill, G Shearer and G Coates (Eds), Catalogue: Fotofeis, Edinburgh
1992: Cahiers de Géopoétique, 3, 1992, IIG/Editions Zoë, Trebeurden/Geneva
1991: ‘Patricia Macdonald’, in Kunst, Europa: 63 deutsche Kunstvereine zeigen Kunst aus 20 Landern, Vowinckel, Andreas et al., (Eds), Arbeitsgemeinschaft deutscher Kunstvereine (AdKV), Bonn
1990: Scottish Photography Portfolio I (Stevenson, Sara, intro.), Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh
Selected Exhibitions:
Solo and two-person shows include:
2009-11: ‘Changing Environments’ project: ‘Edge: Hebrides’ & ‘Wood: New Leaf’ (commissioned by National Galleries of Scotland/Scottish Government/Highland Council. First shown in Scotland House and in the European Parliament, Brussels; tour in Scotland & elsewhere in Europe
2001-03: ‘Air works’ and ‘Once in Europa’, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh (during Edinburgh International Festival); BCA (Boukamel Contemporary Art), London; MAC (Midland Arts Centre), Birmingham
2000: ‘Recent aerial works’, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
1999: (Dual) ‘Observations: Aerial photography by Patricia Macdonald and Marilyn Bridges’, Museet for Fotokunst, Ødense and Møstings Hus, Copenhagen, Denmark
1999: (Dual) ‘Patricia Macdonald & Susan Derges’, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
1996: ‘Views of Gaia III’, Taigh Chearsabhagh, North Uist, Western Isles
1995: ‘Environments’, The Scottish Executive headquarters, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh
1993-94: 'Views of Gaia II’, British Council/Ministry of Culture, P R China, Beijing; Royal Palace Exhibition Hall, Beijing & China tour, ‘Salt.Sand: Edge of Ocean, Edge of Dryness’, Fotofeis/New Arts, Glasgow Art Gallery
1992: ‘Views of Gaia I’, British Council (for UK Presidency of EC), Charlemagne Building, Brussels
1991: ‘Kunst Europa: 63 deutsche Kunstvereine zeigen Kunst aus 20 Landern’, AdKV, Germany/ British Council, Kunstverein Pforzheim, Baden (with Julian Opie)
1990: ‘Order & Chaos: Views of Gaia’, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh & UK tour
1989: ‘Shadow of Heaven’, Photographers' Gallery, London & UK tour
Group shows include:
2016-17: 'The View from Here: Landscape Photography from the National Galleries of Scotland', National Galleries of Scotland: Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh (3 images represented, and the poster is one of our images)
2016-17: 'After the Storm', Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh (see also forthcoming related book, also RBGE)
2015: 'Ripples on the Pond', Gallery of Modern art, Glasgow
2014: New Southern General Hospital, Glasgow (Beacon Project): Commissioned artworks with the purpose of drawing the environment into the hospital: participating artists in the successful therapeutic and design strategy: 'Working Well: People and Space'
2014: ‘A Silvered Light: Scottish Art Photography from the City’s Collection’, McManus Art Gallery & Museum, Dundee
2012: ‘Looking back at Earth: Contemporary Environmental Photography from the Hood Museum of Art’s Collection’, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
2012-14: ‘The Art of Golf’, High Museum of Art, Altanta, USA/National Galleries of Scotland & USA tour
2012: ‘Flight and the Artistic Imagination’, Compton Verney, Warwickshire
2012: ‘Art through a Lens’, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
2008: ’25 Years of Photography’, National Galleries of Scotland: Scottish National Portrait Gallery
2007: ‘An ever-fixed mark’, University of St Andrews
2006-07: ‘Fonn ’S Duthchas/Land & Legacy’, National Museums of Scotland/YHC 2007; Scotland tour
2006: ‘Human/Nature’, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
2004: ‘Ingleby Gallery at London Art Photography Fair’, London
2004: ‘Northern Light’, Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh
2003-04: ‘Ebb’, Sabhail Mor Ostaig and An Tuireann Arts Centre, Skye & Northern Ireland tour
2003: ‘Demarco Gallery/Festival of the Sea’, Leith
2002: ‘Four photographers’, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
2001: ‘DIN Art 4’, Museen für Kommunikation, Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg
2001: ‘The Fine Art of Photography’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
2001: ‘Narcissus: the self-portrait in the twentieth century’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
2001: ‘Ingleby Gallery at Art2001’, London
2000: ‘Views from above’, National Museums of Scotland/Millennium Festival of Flight
2000: ‘Expressions’, Aberdeen Art Gallery; McManus Galleries; Dundee Contemporary Arts
1995: ‘Light from the Dark Room: A Celebration of Scottish Photography’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (images from collection & major new work commission)
1995: ‘Volcano’, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
1995: ‘Heartlands’: (Edinburgh International Festival exhibition), Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh
1994: ‘Shifting Boundaries’, Signals Festival, Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews
1994: ‘Visions of the Ottoman Empire’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
1994: ‘One Little Room ... an Everywhere: a Photographer’s Choice’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (exhibition selected by David Williams)
1993: ‘Portfolio Selection '93: Scottish Contemporary Photographic Art’, Portfolio, Edinburgh
1993: ‘Exposure: Photographs from the Scottish Arts Council Collection’, CCA, Glasgow
1993:‘Art in the Airport: Terminal Two Project’, Manchester International Airport, Manchester
1993: ‘Scotland Observed’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
1992: ‘Dear Green Place: Question of Equilibrium’: UK Exhibit, 18th Triennale di Milano, Milan
1992: ‘Recent acquisitions in Photography: the 20th Century’, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
1992: ‘National Galleries of Scotland exhibit: SIME Fair’, Grand Palais, Paris
1992: ‘Scottish Portfolios’, West Texas Photography Group, Abilene, USA;
Texas Commission on the Arts USA tour
1991: ‘Regeneration 3’: Sheffield Project, Untitled Gallery, Sheffield
1991: ‘Thessaloniki Photography Festival’, Thessaloniki
1991: ‘Contemporary Art for Kelvingrove’, Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries
1988 : ‘Open Land’, Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh; tour
1987: ‘New Light’, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh
Art/photography Awards and Commissions include:
2016-17: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh: 'After the Storm' (exhibition and publication)
2014: New Southern General Hospital, Glasgow (Beacon Project)
2011: National Galleries of Scotland/High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA: for exhibition ‘The Art of Golf’: ‘Bunkered terrain: Scottish golf landscapes’
2009: National Galleries of Scotland/Scottish Government/Highland Council for ‘Green Week’, Brussels and the European Parliament, & tour
2006-07: National Museums of Scotland
2003: Shortlisted (3 finalists) for MetOffice major commission for new Headquarters, Exeter
2002-06: Blair Atholl, Perthshire
2002-03: National Galleries of Scotland
2002: Mount Stuart Trust, Isle of Bute/Kate Whiteford (catalogue)
2000-01: Ardtornish, Morven
2000: National Museums of Scotland;
2000: Royal Fine Art Commission
1998-09: South Ayrshire Council
1997-08: Stirling Council/Thistle Centre
1994-05: National Galleries of Scotland
1995-06: Northern Arts/Kielder Reservoir, Northumberland;
1993: Manchester International Airport (Terminal II project)
1993: Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums/Fotofeis
1992: Triennale di Milano (UK Exhibit)
1990-01: Jellicoe Award: Landscape Design Trust/Northern Arts
1991: Sheffield Project (‘Regeneration 3’), Untitled Gallery, Sheffield
1989: Photographers’ Trust Fund Major Bursary (Photographers’ Gallery, London)
1985-06: National Museums of Scotland
Collections: public & private worldwide: public/corporate collections include:
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh
The Scottish Government, Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Museet for Fotokunst, Ødense, Denmark
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, New Hampshire, USA
Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Glasgow Art Galleries & Museums, Glasgow
McManus Art Gallery & Museum, Dundee
Boswell Art Collection: University of St Andrews
China Photographers Association, Beijing, China
Navigator Foundation, USA
Turcan Connell
Citibank
Deutsche Bank
Standard Life