Visit
Stills is a centre for photography based in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. With over 40 years of history, we’ve got a lot of experience to share. Our exhibitions, production facilities and range of creative, educational opportunities allow anyone to discover, enjoy and understand photography.
STILLS: CENTRE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
23 Cockburn Street
Edinburgh
Scotland EH1 1BP
GALLERY
Tuesday—Saturday, 11am—5pm
PRODUCTION FACILITIES
Tuesday, 11am—5pm
Wednesday, 11am—9pm
Thursday, 11am—9pm
Friday, 11am—5pm
Saturday, 11am—5pm
Planning a visit to Stills? View our visual guide here.
Explore more and hear insights about Stills through our digital guide on Bloomberg Connects. The free arts and culture app takes you behind the scenes with exclusive audio, highlights from our archive, and more. You’ll also find must-read content to help you get the most out of Stills.
History
Stills was established in 1977. Since that time it has become a champion for the important and powerful role that the medium of photography plays in the world today. We are currently working to make our archive accessible for research, here are a few items that we’ve uncovered so far.
1976
Creative Camera was a monthly fine art and documentary photography magazine published between 1964—2001. This edition featured work from the “Recent American Still Photography” exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery in 1976. The exhibition was organised by the Scottish Photography Group, which went on to become Stills. Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Harry Callahan and Garry Winogrand were only a handful of amazing photographers included in the show.
1977
This exhibition book is from Angus McBean “A Darker Side of the Moon”, the first exhibition held at Stills in 1977 at our original location on the High Street. Angus McBean was a prolific theatrical photographer associated with the Surrealist movement. “The camera’s love of her face is entirely serious and magical, and the unreality of the composition – she rises like a goddess out of the earth, her perfection emphasised by classical sculptures on columns that recede over the sands towards a painted sky – is not just a joke. It is also a quasi-religious recognition that she is not, after all, like you and me but inhabits another, dreamlike world created by the adoring eyes of cinema-goers.” Jonathon Jones, The Guardian, June 2006
1978
In 1978, Paul Strand’s “The Hebridean Photographs” was exhibited at Stills. This body of work, created in the 1960’s, documents Hebridean life, from people, to labour, to home-life, to landscape. We have a copy of this exhibition book in Stills’ eclectic, public-access, photographic library. “It may be unusual in an exhibition […] to include a small and seemingly alien group of images. We have assumed however that Strand’s earlier work may be unfamiliar to many people and that some brief introduction may be of value. Despite the changes of style and interest apparent in Strand’s work over the years, there is also an underlying consistency, an adherence to a creed established early in his career” Richard Hough, Stills Director 1978.
1982
In 1982, Stills exhibited work by Man Ray, a famous Dada and surrealist artist. These objects display some behind the scenes happenings of how galleries operate; deciding where certain works are to be hung, and sending out press releases are still common practice today.
1987
Did you visit our Jo Spence exhibition in 2016? This flyer from our archive shows that Stills already understood the importance of Spence’s work, way back in 1987. The “Women in Photography” event organised by Stills lists Jo Spence as a speaker alongside Val Williams, Grace Robertson and Maggie Murray. Sadly Spence had to pull out due to ill health, a final draft of the flyer reveals she was replaced by Dr. Roberta McGrath, an Edinburgh based photography scholar and lecturer.
1988
This cassette is a recording of Paul Graham giving an artist talk in 1988 when Stills exhibited Graham’s Troubled Land series. In this recording he talks about his images and working practice as well as some practical tips and advice about making a living as a photographer.
1994
“A Stuggy Pren” was an exhibition in 1994 which coincided with the release of a collaborative book between photographer Katrina Lithgow and poet Ivor Cutler. Featuring fascinating portraits of Cutler, taken by Lithgow, this exhibition elaborated on the dynamic collaborative relationship between both artists.
Our Team
DIRECTOR
Vivienne Gamble
vivienne.gamble@stills.org
PROGRAMME MANAGER
Cheryl Connell
cheryl.connell@stills.org
PROJECT COORDINATOR (CREATIVE LEARNING)
Louise McLachlan
louise.mclachlan@stills.org
FINANCE CONTROLLER
James McKenzie
finance@stills.org
TECHNICIAN
Joseph Wilson
joseph.wilson@stills.org
GENERAL ENQUIRIES
info@stills.org
CREATIVE LEARNING MANAGER
Claire Cochrane
claire.cochrane@stills.org
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Caitlin Serey
caitlin.serey@stills.org
TECHNICIAN
Joseph Glover
joseph.glover@stills.org
VISITOR & MARKETING COORDINATOR
Alice Poole
alice.poole@stills.org
PRODUCTION FACILITIES ENQUIRIES
resource@stills.org
Board Members:
Jane Martin
Alicia Bruce
Paul Thomson
Residents
There are no current residency opportunities.
Policies
As a charitable organisation Stills is committed to and conforms to various policies.
View our Privacy Policy
View our Environmental Policy
View our Fair Work Policy
Green Arts Initiative
Here at Stills we believe in our responsibility to demonstrate best practice in the environmental sustainability of all our activities. In turn, we aim to inform and influence audiences, staff, stakeholders, suppliers and partners to adopt a responsible approach toward the impact of their operations on the environment.
We are proud to be part of Creative Carbon Scotland’s Green Arts Initiative! One of many projects: In 2019 Stills library transformed into an urban green space. Members of the public were invited to learn about native wildflowers in our exhibition and participatory workshops.
Read more about The GreenRoom here.
Vacancies
VISITOR ASSISTANT
Application deadline: Monday 5 October, 9am
Type of contract: Part Time. Fixed Term to March 2028.
Rate of pay: Real Living Wage (currently £13.45 per hour)
Hours of work: The Visitor Assistant role is part-time and shift-based (4 hour shifts) Tuesday-Saturday.
Regular shifts will be 10.30am-2.30pm or 2.30pm-6.30pm with the requirement to work occasional evening shifts to 5pm-9pm to support our programme of public events.
Minimum contract commitment is 12 hours per week.
Start date: Immediate
Location: Stills, 23 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1BP
Job purpose
Stills is a locally valued, internationally connected centre for excellence in photography in Edinburgh. Visitor Assistants will help our visitors experience and enjoy our core activities:
- Photography exhibitions, events and partnership projects
- Photography darkrooms, production facilities and equipment
- Creative Learning programmes and courses
- Stills library collection
- Photography bookshop
- Stills Automat analogue photobooth
Visitor Assistants will thrive in a busy, public-facing environment and will be passionate about contributing to the vision of Stills to be a leading centre for photography nationally and internationally.
Description of key tasks
- Act as the friendly and professional first point of contact, welcoming visitors to Stills and introducing them to the full range of our on-site photography activities
- Engage with visitors to share knowledge and insight into the exhibition programme, library collection, photography courses and upcoming events
- Supporting the daily set-up and close of the gallery, shop, library and analogue photobooth and preparations for next day.
- Assisting visitors to register for courses, events and the library
- Support equipment hire enquiries and access to the darkrooms and photography production facilities
- Assisting visitors to use the Stills automat analogue photobooth
- Processing bookshop sales, maintaining the book shop display and stock
- Supporting the set up and running of events such as exhibition openings, book launches, artist talks and the courses programme
- Maintaining Stills’ visitor surveys and course booking databases; regularly inputting key information for reporting purposes to funders
- Contributing to and providing administrative support for internal team meetings and groups where required
Person Specification
- Customer orientated, friendly and welcoming
- Passionate about photography and the activities we offer at Stills
- Ability to work effectively as part of a small, dedicated team
- Ability to work calmly under pressure
- Flexibility to support with evening, weekend and holiday cover shifts
About Stills
Stills was established in Edinburgh’s Old Town in 1977 and is the longest-running public photography organisation in Scotland. Today we operate from a fully accessible building on Cockburn Street that was designed and refurbished in the 1990s by Reiach & Hall architects with funding from the National Lottery. We are proud of Stills’ exhibition history and we plan to explore and celebrate this in 2027, our 50th anniversary year.
Our values start from the premise that everyone should have access to photography. It informs our understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. Photography can be a tool for visual literacy and for effecting social change, inspiring in us responsible ways of living:
- We champion photography
- We empower diverse communities of people
- We provide a foundation for the development of the photography sector in Scotland
- We meet the demands of growing audiences for photography from around the world
HOW TO APPLY
Please send a CV and a supporting statement outlining how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role (no more than 500 words) with subject header: Visitor Assistant to: cheryl.connell@stills.org
Please also use this email if you would like to ask any specific questions about the role.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if sufficient applications are received, so we encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible.
Image: Jillian Edelstein — Among People (installation detail) Stills, 2026