Alasdair (b.1993) is a Scottish artist working in the medium of photographic double exposures. His work blurs the lines between surrealist art and photography. He creates his art by shooting on analogue 35mm black and white film and then digitally layering two photographs together in Photoshop. He enjoys the technique of combining old and new technologies as it allows greater creative freedom and flexibility. The grainy quality that comes with an analogue camera is enhanced by the ability to select and blend particular images using modern software like Photoshop.

He is also a trained graphic and website designer, having previously set up and run a successful freelance business with a close friend where he worked with various clients in the arts and culture sector in Scotland. Although his focus has now shifted towards art he still works as a freelancer within this industry. His graphic design practice guides and informs the way he creates double-exposure artwork. He also credits his work ethic and drive to the time he spent working as a chef before starting his creative career. 

The Lagoon project was born in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic when the world ground to a halt and most of my work as a graphic designer was put on hold. In need of a creative outlet to occupy my mind and time, I began experimenting with images I’d taken on a recent trip to Crail and making my own double exposures.

This eventually gave rise to ‘Lagoon’ and what started as a source of solace during lockdown has now become my main creative outlet as I sell my work at markets and online and exhibit at galleries.

The name Lagoon comes from a little tongue-in-cheek joke as this was what I nicknamed my living room throughout many months of lockdown. I turned my small space into an oasis (or lagoon) of creativity and despite the difficulties of this period, my lagoon became a place filled with happy memories. I created a small, dreamy haven in which to take refuge from the tumultuous dystopia of living through a pandemic. It’s still where I work today.

There is an added irony in the name Lagoon as this word might usually evoke bright, natural imagery, while my work is monochromatic and often focuses on urban areas. I aim to create a surrealist, sometimes dreamy, sometimes nightmarish feel to my work which feels fitting as Lagoons are often considered places full of mystery and intrigue.

My first, late-night attempt at creating a double exposure still sits clearly in my mind and the final piece remains a favourite in the collection. Working with scanned digital copies of film photographs I had taken - one a view from my flat and the second taken in the centre of Frankfurt, Germany - the shots were layered over each other using Photoshop. The surreal outcome of marrying two photographs together particularly struck a chord at a time of strange and heavy restrictions on our usual freedoms. The original, separate compositions come together to create a contradictory place which simultaneously does and does not exist; which we can and cannot explore. Reminiscent, perhaps, of the notion that the places and people we see in dreams are the product of real experiences, woven together by our minds to design a new environment. From the comfort and confinement of my home, digging out photographs taken on my Olympus analogue camera became a way to discover and create new spaces and places whilst the outside world was off-limits.