Edinburgh International Festival Welcomes New Photographer

Today the Edinburgh International Festival announced the appointment of the new Edinburgh International Festival Photographer, Alex Aitchison.

The Edinburgh International Festival has joined forces with The Morton Charitable Trust to make this role possible for an emerging photographer either from or based in Scotland. It presents a fantastic opportunity for Alex Aitchison to develop his craft and contact book, while capturing the dynamic character of the Festival in a reportage style.

With wide access to all parts of the Festival, including backstage, the Festival Photographer will provide a behind-the-scenes record of the buzz of audiences enjoying the Festival, rehearsals, other Festival events, and all the work that goes on to make the Festival possible.

A recent graduate from Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, where he received a 1st Class Honours Degree in Visual Communication, Alex was also nominated for a BP Design Award in 2014. With a keen interest in the arts and culture in Scotland, Alex brings with him fantastic experience of photographing a wide variety of subjects.

As Edinburgh International Festival Photographer, he will have the opportunity to photograph a star-studded list of artists at the year's Edinburgh International Festival that includes Juliette Binoche, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lang Lang, Sufjan Stevens, Sylvie Guillem, Franz Ferdinand & Sparks, Sylvie Guillem, Max Richter, Simon McBurney, Enda Walsh and Yuja Wang, who are all making their Festival debuts.

Alex will also have the chance to work with artists such as Robert Lepage, Simon McBurney, National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre, Volksbuhne Berlin, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Ballett am Rhein.

After the Festival, an exhibition of Alex's work will be held in The Hub in Edinburgh to celebrate his accomplishments and the work that goes in to creating the Festival itself.

Thanks to the support of The Morton Charitable Trust, this role has been available since 2008. Previous Edinburgh International Festival Photographers include Caroline Douglas, Claudine Quinn, Eoin Carey, Sally Jubb, Stuart Armitt and Clark James.

Alex Aitchison said, 'I'm incredibly excited to be taking on the position of EIF Photographer 2015 in such an exciting year for the festival. With a brand new director and such a wonderfully diverse programme, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to be part of this iconic event. I'm lucky to follow so many talented photographers and hope to be able to tell the story of the performers, crew and EIF staff in a way that will be a happy reminder for them in years to come.'

Douglas Connell, a Trustee of The Morton Charitable Trust said, 'The selection of the seventh Festival Photographer in this series demonstrates the great success of our collaboration with the Festival in encouraging new photography talent. We are enormously appreciative of the opportunity given by Edinburgh International Festival to these photographers.'

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