Constructed Worlds Of Calum Colvin

About this book:

Calum Colvin is one of Scotland’s most innovative photographers, and his photographs are complex constructions. They are composed of three-dimensional stage-sets, populated by everyday household objects, and overpainted with subjects that relate to fine art and to popular culture; as well as to global history, identity, and ecology. Looking at these artworks will involve the viewer in a kind of puzzle, for these photographs need to be interpreted. When explored the photographs reveal a world that is comical and serious, joyous and profound, imaginative and original. Calum Colvin’s photographs, then, allow us to recognise the wonder in contemporary life, and to share in the pleasure of a wild creative journey.

About the Author:

TOM NORMAND was born in Aberdour in Fife.  He was educated in Dunfermline, and subsequently took a degree in Sociology and Politics at Glasgow College.  His doctoral thesis, in the Sociology of Culture, was taken at Durham University.  He has taught at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, and, since 1982, has lectured in the History of Art at the University of St Andrews.  He has published widely in the history of British art with a special interest in developments in art and photography in Scotland.  He has lectured, nationally and internationally, on Scottish art, culture and society.

CALUM COLVIN was born in Glasgow in 1961, but now lives in Edinburgh. He was a winner of one of the first SAC Creative Scotland Awards and also holds a Royal Photographic Society Gold Medal.

Colvin was awarded an OBE in 2001 and is Professor of Fine Art Photography at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, part of the University of Dundee. His Scottish poetry is often featured in The Herald and various literary magazines.