Rebecca Milling’s photography is engaged with the environment and our performance within it.
Working on self initiated projects, she takes on varied subjects with sensitivity and humour.
Current & Recent Projects:
Exit depicts zoo animals leaving the frame. A limited edition artist’s book of this work has recently been published by A Book Edition with a short essay written by Cordelia Underhill, extract below:
“This series of photographs captures animals exiting the scene, and is distinct in its graphic and formal use of tone….The animals, cut in half and leaving the frame, give oblique but pointed reference to the mass endangerment of species in our present environmental crisis. […]”
Lockdown Pub Crawl documented the closure of pubs in Edinburgh in April 2021 during the covid lockdown. Milling photographed 30 closed pubs in the evening when they would usually be vibrant, busy centres for people meeting up and spending time together. This project was exhibited on social media, inviting people to share their stories of nights that they could remember in particular venues
1 Mile Radius documented the closure of many businesses and public facilities during the first coronavirus lockdown; this closure was apparent in the new notices that sprung up everywhere. Milling photographed these notices within a one mile radius of where she lives. The ripples and repercussions from the shutdown on individuals and society as a whole are overbearingly evident in 1 Mile Radius which displays 245 photographs edited down from the 818 notices shot.
Spare Time portrays numerous empty halls across the breadth of Edinburgh alongside a list of the activities which happen within them. This project celebrates the diverse activity in communal spaces and the architecture which provides a safe sheltered centre outside of the workplace or home.
Exhibitions
Street Level Open 2022, group exhibition, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow
196th RSA Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
195th RSA Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Scottish Society of Artists 122nd Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Exit, Solo exhibition, The Broadway Bookshop, London
Calculated Construction, solo exhibition, 525 Gallery, Edinburgh
Scottish Society of Artists 121st Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Project Summerhall, Summerhall, Edinburgh
Calculated Construction, Summerhall Corridor, Edinburgh
Episodes, Ethel Maude Collective, Online Film, Edinburgh Art Festival Edinburgh
The Artist Traveller, Group Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
En Coulisse, Ethel Maude Collective Film, Hidden Door, Edinburgh
Decision Time, Group Exhibition, Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts
Exquisite Corpse, Ethel Maude Collective Film, Alchemy Film Festival
Exquisite Corpse, Ethel Maude Collective Film, Summerhall, Edinburgh Art Festival
The 7th Street Level Open, group exhibition, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow
Open Photography 2, group exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
If I Jump Off A Bridge Will You Follow Me? Group Exhibition, Edinburgh Art Festival
3/3 Group Exhibition, Antigua St, Edinburgh
Digital VD, Group Exhibition/ Filmwork, touring
Pop Up Image, Group Exhibition, Heyri Art Valley, South Korea
Old Habits Die Hard, Group Exhibition, Touring worldwide
Trace, Video Installation/ Performance, Generator Projects, Dundee
Walk Ahead, Sound Installation, WASPS Studios, Dundee
Resource Room, Sound Installation, Exhibitions, University of Dundee
Stone Being, Solo Exhibition, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen
Wandering Portrait and Evening Portrait, Performances, Duff House, Banff, Aberdeenshire
Outside, Inside, Performance, Market Gallery, Glasgow,
Still Life, Performance, Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts
I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Group Exhibition, Stills, Edinburgh
Awards
Creative Scotland Award, SSA Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
Gallery Ten Award, SSA Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh
100 Flowers Collection, New South Glasgow Hospitals
Royal Scottish Academy Residency with North Lands Glass, Caithness and Stills, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Visual Arts Award
PVA Labculture Residency, Camden Roundhouse, London
Dundee Visual Arts Award
Hope Scott Trust Award
Historic Scotland Grant
Aberdeenshire Council Grant
SAC Photography/ Digital Fellowship, Scottish Sculpture Workshop and Peacock Visual Arts
Research and Training Award, Stills, Edinburgh
Publications
Studies in Photography Summer Edition 2020 - New Contemporaries Feature
Exit Artists Book published by A Book Edition ISBN: 978-3-947295-51-7
Stone Being Exhibition catalogue published by Peacock Visual Arts ISBN:
I’m a Stranger Here Myself Exhibition catalogue
Landscape and Art Feature
Rebecca Milling often works together with other artists on large projects
Highlights Include:
Cajal Embroidery Project - In celebration of Neuroscience - Commissioned by Edinburgh University Neuroscience Dept and Tonic Arts
Workers Union - Commissioned by Red Note directed by Zoë Irvine and Alice Nelson, 7 screen video installation with live orchestral performance underneath Concorde, Lammermuir Festival, National Museum of Flight
Ron and Linda - Commissioned by SeeMe Charity for Mental Health directed by Alice Nelson, Documentary for the Scottish Mental Health Film Festival
A Street of Voices - Commissioned by Citizen Curator, 8 screen Film Installation, Main St, Newhaven for What Does Bow-Tow Mean to You?
One Minute - Commissioned by Perth Concert Hall for Dalziel + Scullion and Craig Armstrong, video installation with live orchestral performance
Rebecca Milling runs Copystand, offering a reproduction photography service to artists, publishers and galleries. She does this alongside making her own artwork and is part of the Ethel Maude Collective