Brief
For my next professional set project, we have been kindly supplied a brief by Ruth Yee Head of Art/ The Union, an award-winning marketing agency. Scotland on a plate that’s it, while the brief has a connection to Scotland food and drink who promote Scotland’s delicacies worldwide, we have scope for creative flair. It doesn’t need to include food or drink, or even a plate. It’s Scotland on a plate, simple logic, difficult to comprehend.
Initial brainstorming
The personal interpterion of the brief leaves me so uneasy, I like working on a more dictated workflow as I doubt my own creativeness. Scotland on a plate has so much scope but I can’t get away from the connection to food and drink side of the brief, I want/need a subject that will allow my single image to work alone. With no text allowed and no evaluation attached, the image has to tell the story, no ifs or buts. Working out of my comfort zone, overthinking yes but that’s just standard by now, my initial thinking involved hiking a Munro or a trip to Barra or Skye for some Landscapes. Aye but Naw, with so much in my current schedule it would add additional pressure I could do without. But where to start, so I will now produce a smorgasbord of images ideas, images and inspiration.
1. The Aberdeen Angus Ribeye, Prime Scottish meat, still life shot. 2. The simple Tunnocks Teacake. 3. The iconic Highland Coo portrait shot on location. 4. Haggis, Neeps and tatties. The famous Scottish delicacy. 5. A range of Scottish Whisky with a famous backdrop. 6. Our national drink Irn Bru. 7. Our stunning natural landscape 8. A pint of Tennent’s Lager, a stand out still life image. 9. The deep-fried mars bar, an unusual culinary delight from our shores. 10 – 13, A range of Scotland finest quality food. 14/15. 2 of our wild game species shot on location.
Scotland on a plate to me could include sport, our county pride at stake on a world level, yes I could easily tie in a sponsor of booze but I would rather be out in the wild. A twats fighting outside a pub also represents Scotland on a plate to me, typical binge drinkers on it at the weekend. Tartan, Edinburgh castle and all thing generally touristy again isn’t something that appeals. I feel drawn to the rugged, remote, fresh and natural aura that Scottish products promote to our overseas trade partners.
Further research
Having looked at inspiration from many sources I have opted to shoot a location-based image for this project. yip after dismissing it in my early stages I feel it will meet the brief perfectly. I want to encapsulate the vast greatness of the country as well as its high-quality products. Still, life captures a close crop interpretation of someone’s idea, recipe or even creativeness, this is perfect when focusing on an individual item/ product but from this project I what to reflect Scotland in “Scotland on a plate”. but will research this further.
I looked towards the Scotland food and drink website for some inspiration on what images they use. while the website carries a lot of strong still life images that jump from the page, these images sell the website and don’t fully reflect the output provided by Scotland’s food and drink to the sector. The website also used landscape images showcasing our best farm locations and native species/game.
A video called “Scotland, a land of food and drink” caught my attention on the homepage, it boosts of our diverse and natural larder, featuring a range of landscape images that appealed to me. One featuring a salmon farm captured the stunning landscape while clearly capturing the fishnets in the loch, this interested me greatly as I liked the possible additional used that such an image can offer. It captured the essence of Scotland, and further strengthen the wild, natural aspect associated with the products we sell worldwide. The rolling highland hills towering over the ice-cold loch, the rugged lands formed by ancient glaciers just screams nature. You can almost smell the fresh chilled air that flows through the valleys.
So having decided on location based images I still had to ponder what would be the subject matter if any. At this time of year I felt wild game would be a great area to investigate. The thought of dragging props around locations also helped direct my attention to the wildlife.
With Tesco recently adding wild Scottish highland venison to its range, I felt this could be a great subject matter that was on trend at present. Looking at Highland game.com the Hill to farm campaign appealed to me, I felt this was something I could feature in my image. A location image of a wild deer in the highlands of Scotland, capturing its free-range environment, selling product and country. The concept formed, the location ideas were to follow, as I wanted to have a quality backdrop to accompany the deer. So it means a road trip up north.
Location ideas
Born and bred in Scotland I can be somewhat naïve with regards to the delights of my country and it’s world-famous food and drink, but one thing I can talk about is its glorious hills and glens. When I want to describe Scotland to someone who has never been, instantly it’s the Scottish highlands I start with. The stunning backdrop to many a movie, the secluded home of James Bond often providing a modern reference that Transcends nationalities. Glen Etive is my favourite palace to spend a day, the silence and calmness removed from the world are worth its weight in gold. Tourists at times flock to Glen Etive’s meandering single trace road, looking for a glimpse of real Scotland. The areas remote and untouched aura at risk from hydropower but remains perfect just now. This was where I wanted to use as the setting from Scotland on a plate set project. 
Submission
So my final image, I feel it captures Scotland with its stunning landscapes and also presents a strong connection to the highland’s and the game that roams there. I also felt the image presented several possible uses offering an extended shelf life, the red deer image often adorns shortbread tins, tea towels and many items linked to Scotland so carries a popular following. I positioned the deer centre of frame to allow for different crops extending any possible use of the image, the negative space will allow for text or logo should the need also arise in the future.
Craig Murray Photography 