Craig Mackay
Craig Mackay is one of Scotland's foremost art photographers.
His success has led to several important solo shows as well as
contributions to exhibitions in Britain, Europe and the United
States.
Born in Inverness in 1960, Craig was brought up in the
Highlands. He left school at 15 and like so many living in the
Highlands in the late 1970s, early 80s he worked as a welder in the
booming Scottish oil industry.
By his mid twenties Craig embarked on a new career, completing a
degree at Napier University in photographic studies. He started his
highly succcessful studio Pictii in Brora in 1992. The
studio went from strength to strength, attracting commissions from
the music industry, magazines and corporate companies.
An exhibition of his work entitled The Gift held at the
Art First Gallery in Cork Street, London, in 1998 led to BBC
Scotland producing a programme, This is Mackay Country,
about his life and work in the Highlands amd his journey in making
the exhibition.
Craig's work draws much from this Highland background. Stark and
uncompromising, his images deal with life, death, religion and
ritual. He tackles subjects both contemporary and historical and
draws on his own personal experience of emigration and loss to
illustrate his work. He now divides his time between Brora in
Sutherland and Louisiana in America.