Highland photographer charts the life of the Spey in year-long journey
A photographer’s year tracing the Spey reveals a river that shaped communities across the Highlands and north east
A Highland-based photographer who has spent the past year tracing the River Spey by bicycle and canoe is preparing to unveil an immersive touring exhibition capturing life on the banks of one of Scotland’s well-known rivers.
Ed Smith, who is based in Kingussie, in the Cairngorms National Park, has been awarded a grant by the Cairngorms Trust to curate a series of community exhibitions along the length of the Spey later this summer.
The exhibition is the second phase of a year-long project Mr Smith worked on documenting the river through analogue photography, film and recorded interviews with people who live and work along its banks.
Running from mid-July until the end of October, the touring show will move between venues across the national park, bringing together 25 selected photographs, audio recordings and personal stories gathered during the photographer’s journey.
The project began last summer when Mr Smith retraced a canoe trip he went on on the Spey with his father when he was ten years old — using the same canoe more than two decades later.
In autumn, he cycled across the wider Spey catchment before undertaking a winter canoe descent in January this year.
The journey will conclude with a final cycle ride in April, travelling from the river’s mouth on the Moray Firth back to its source in the Cairngorms.
The touring exhibition will launch at the photographer’s Eleven41 gallery in Kingussie in mid-July before moving roughly every three weeks through communities including Aviemore, Glenmore, Boat of Garten, Grantown-on-Spey and Glenlivet. Each stop will include a public launch event and a series of talks.
Mr Smith said the project was intended to capture not only the river’s landscapes but the culture and livelihoods it has sustained for generations.
“For me, this was never just a photography trip,” he said.
“The River Spey is a vital artery through the Highlands, rich in history, industry and community. While it is renowned for fishing and watersports, it has also shaped local economies and the lives of the communities who live beside it.
“By creating an accessible and interactive exhibition that tours these communities, people will be able to experience what I have captured — through photographs, the sounds of the river and interviews with the remarkable people I have met along the way, in every season.
“It is also an opportunity to uncover some of the region’s lesser-known or overlooked history and begin building an archive that can be shared with future generations.”
Mr Smith said he hopes the exhibition will also reach the thousands of visitors who travel to the national park each year.
“As well as local communities, who are essentially the natural guardians of the river, we hope to open the eyes of the hundreds of tourists who come to this special part of Scotland every summer,” he said.
The photographer added: “If they better understand the river they are enjoying while they are here, it may encourage greater awareness and environmental responsibility.”
The Cairngorms Trust, an independent charity that supports community-led initiatives across the national park, said the project stood out for its ambition to combine art, storytelling and environmental awareness.
Rachael Dominy, the Trust’s manager, said: “The trustees really enjoyed the vision of Ed’s project — a true exploration and celebration of the River Spey and the communities who live and work alongside it.
“We felt it would result in a high-quality exhibition that would stimulate discussion and encourage further engagement among residents of the park as well as visitors.”
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