Works by street photographer to go on display for first time
IMAGES OF Edinburgh in the 1950s and 60s taken by an acclaimed street photographer are to go on show for the first time.
The photos by the late Robert Blomfield, who was born in Yorkshire, will go on display at the University of Edinburgh where he studied medicine and honed his artistic talent.
His work was relatively unknown until a show at the City Art Centre, in Edinburgh, in 2018, and the new exhibition, titled Robert Blomfield: Student of Light, will be the first display of his work since then.
It includes street scenes and images of student life, and is the first to feature his colour photography.
Blomfield arrived in Edinburgh to study medicine in 1956 and took a camera with him almost everywhere, even into class, producing shots of lectures and laboratories that are described as unique in their access and composition.
Curator Daryl Green said: “In this exhibition you will encounter Edinburgh through Robert’s lens, from when he first stepped off the train platform in Waverley station through to the late 1960s.
“These photographs reveal how he developed his eye and his skills in the darkroom and how he became a student of light.”
Born in Leeds and raised in Sheffield, Blomfield’s pursuit of photography was sparked when he received his first camera on his 15th birthday.
He applied the advice of Robert Capa who said “if your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”. He continued taking photographs until shortly before his death in December 2020 but his work was largely unseen in his lifetime.
His archive of original prints, film and colour slides from Scotland was deposited in the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research Collections in late 2021.
Robert Blomfield: Student of Light, backed by the Scottish Funding Council, will run from May 6 to October 1 at Edinburgh University Main Library.