He shot pictures of the people and landscapes of Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay and then edited them down to the 105 plates published in his classic 1962 book Tîr aÂ’Mhurain (Land of Bent Grass). The project was part of StrandÂ’s ongoing attempt to record the ideal community. The nine photographs from the series purchased by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery are original, richly textured prints made by Strand himself. Among them are representative pictures from all three genres featured in the book: portraits, landscapes and abstract details. Their beauty, rarity and subject matter makes it all the more resonant that they are the first works by this renowned photographer to enter a public collection in Scotland.

Provenance

From the artist to his wife, Hazel Kingsbury Strand in 1976; the Paul Strand Foundation 1976-1982; The Paul Strand Archive/Aperture Foundation, Inc.