? Stuart Franklin
Harvesting Barley Along the Strathmore Valley, Near Coupar Angus
2010
- Scottish Art
In 2007 the Scottish National Portrait Gallery commissioned Stuart Franklin to capture the diversity of Scottish farming, ranging from large managed estates to family allotments. His camera has traced the environmental damage caused by intensive forestry in the Trossachs to the impact of mobile phone masts on the landscape near Montrose. This dramatic photograph captures a combine harvester in a freshly reaped barley field. The grey, stormy sky contrasts sharply against the golden warmth of the crop. The machine, as it trundles up the field spilling smoke in its wake, shows the industrialised side of farming rather than the rural ideal.
