Murray Close enjoys a stellar career as an on-set photographer capturing crucial stills and behind the scenes from the world of cinema.

Working with acclaimed directors and the most influential filmmakers in some of the biggest box offices hits Close has photographed leading actors including Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Jack Nicholson, George Clooney and many others. Born in Canada and educated in the UK, it was whilst studying music that an introduction to Stanley Kubrick lead him to a three year assignment on ‘The Shining’, the horror film starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.

This master class would influence his work from that point on. However, it was work on the cult British classic, ‘Withnail & I’, a film that helped launch the careers of Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann directed by Bruce Robinson that Close has produced some of his finest work.

Close subsequently collaborated with Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg which meant relocating to Los Angeles where he went on to work on films such as Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park and The Matrix as well as many others.

Continuing to work at the highest level, Close has recently finished production on ‘Civil War’ with Alex Garland and ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ directed by Francis Lawrence in 2022. Within the industry Close was awarded the Society of Camera Operator Still Photographer Lifetime Achievement Award (2016) & Publicists Guild of America Excellence in Unit Still Photography for Motion Pictures Award (2019).

Chris Close is a leading landscape and location photographer who has travelled globally on assignments. His work of the likes of Greeenland, Newfoundland and Scotland is moody and evocative reflecting the dramatic scenery and weather.

Chris aims to convey an empathy with the landscape and the spritual solitude as though the viewer could be the last person on earth. By recording just one of the senses he aims to evoke several others.

As well as wide open spaces Chris is a highly skilled portrait photographer. His easy style enables him to deal with people from all walks of life.
Chris has produced portraits, rock stars, Royalty, politcians, Oscar Winners, members of the Russian mafia, murderers, victims and many more. As he will tell you, everyone has a story and there are a lot of people out there who because they don’t shout, nobody listens to.

Although known for his landscape work Chris is the man behind, 'Between The Lines - Portraits of Authors', an annual exhibition at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He has amassed over 1500 unique and distinctive portraits of writers in what is an equally unique concept; photographing on site, (usually oputside) then adding prints to an ever expanding exhibition on a daily basis. He describes it as very much in keeping with the festival spririt producing a range of work not constrained by commision. Thoughtful, spontaneous and often silly amidst a hive some of the most creative people.

One of the first artists spotted by Gallery-Close, Nadia’s work has since been featured in VOGUE, The New York Times, The Times, The Guardian, ENKI, World of Interiors and Ideal Home. Her popularity globally has been increasing dramatically.

Nadia collects photographed details; the patina on stone, distortions on water, shadows drawn by trees. These small details help her tell the bigger story. Using several images, collected on location, these are layered in camera or at the studio. Together they convey a sense of place and time. Often the original photograph becomes undecipherable as a new more painterly and poetic interpretation is produced.  

Nadia uses both film, digital and painting to produce a range of work.

Her work was shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

We are delighted to represent the work of this most talented artist.

Robert’s work offers a stunning glimpse into Edinburgh’s past caught by a master of the genre. These really are beautiful images full of charm and humanity.

Robert Blomfield was a trainee doctor at Edinburgh University whose work was largely unknown until comparatively recently. The archive represents a crucial part of Scotland’s history taken my a man whose work is going to become ever more relevant as is works gains new exposure.

New York has Vivian Maier. Edinburgh has Robert Blomfield.

Brian Aris’ phone book reads like a who’s who of the great and the good of the rock star world. Everyone from The Beatles, Bowie, Blondie, Queen, Madonna, Sting, The Stones, Bush etc have graced his lens.

The only photographer to cover David Bowie’s wedding to Iman in Italy he was also one of the only photographer’s back stage at Live Aid in 1985.

Brian’s work is collected globally by fans and collectors alike. Much of it has sold out and continues to go up in value.

Peter Hince aka ‘Ratty’ as he was known spent many years on the road with various bands but since the 1970’s until their last tour in 1986 he was Head of Crew with Queen. He was persuaded to stay on, (for what turned out to be the last tour with the original line up), before embarking on a highly successful career as a photographer. Freddie who had persuaded him to stay on at some point before or during the tour he knew his diagnosis.

His image of ‘Fred’ on stage with John Deacon in silhouette seems extra poignant. The loss of Freddie left a cavernous hole in the music world but the band have become even more hailed as time has gone on. Freddie never got to grow old and John has allowed himself to fade into the background away from the public gaze.

John Claridge is the name of one of the great photographers of recent times. There are only a few in the field who reach the accolade of simply being known by their surname. Claridge is one, Bailey, Snowden, Duffy a few others. In many ways he is the photographer’s photographer. Mention his name and his influence stretches far and wide. Photographers sight him as the man they looked to for inspiration. 'Creatives' and 'Art Directors' all wanted to work with him.

From the East End of London he took his charm (and cuban heels) to one of the biggest agencies in the city, McCann Erickson and landed a job in their photography department. He went on to become the go-to photographer of the advertising world, scooping awards like sweets at a Pick 'n' Mix counter.

Like all greats he never lost sight of why he was a photographer and his personal work resonates with an empathy and passion for the subjects he covers, his love of jazz perhaps stemming from his love of America.

For a time John had a studio above the famed Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, in London's Soho and it is from here that some of the most iconic images of jazz musicians were created.

His work is held in museums and private collections worldwide, including The Arts Council of Great Britain, Victoria & Albert Museum, National Portrait Gallery and The Museum of Modern Art.

A selection of other work by Claridge, (particulalry those of his East End work in London and Gorbals in Glasgow) is also available. Please get in touch for information.

Paul was born in 1951 and educated in Salford, in the northwest of England. He completed his Fine Art Degree at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1975. He returned to Northumberland in 2004 where he now lives with his wife Margaret.  His work is highly sought after by collectors across the globe.

 Since moving back to Northumberland, the windswept beaches between Holy Island and Spittal have woven their way into his work. He has travelled to work in Japan, France and Ireland but the main focus in developing his unique vision were the remote beaches of Wester Ross in north-west Scotland and the Western fringes of the outlying Islands. 

 In 2000 he was made a Fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation and now spends time annually at their facility in North West Mayo, Eire. Then in 2010 he took a conscious ‘year out’ from the seashore focusing his attention on his garden and the hedgerows around his home.  The results were the hugely successful solo show, O Hanami, (taken from the Japanese custom to enjoy the transient beauty of flowers) which was held London in 2012.

 Paul uses a camera-less technique to produce highly detailed images which often defy scale, sometimes looking like immense celestial bodies they can in reality be very small and delicate, suggesting an intrinsic link between the microscopic world and the universe as a whole.

 As well as having a series of solo and joint exhibitions he has work in major public and private collections including Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, the National Photography Collection, Bradford and the National Galleries of Scotland.

 Gallery Close is thrilled to represent Paul particularly given many of his works ‘close’ ties to the Scottish landscape.

Ricardo hails from Venezuela and  was trained originally as a professional mathematician in the area of Differential Geometry and Relativity. You can clearly see these influences in his work.

Scotland has been the inspiration for many great photographers over the years but never seen like this. Ricardo travelled half way round the world to produce his own unique, dissected vision of the land.

"I define myself as an image maker the camera being my tool. As a painter I recall the intense anxiety felt when facing a blank canvas: the fear of failure, to start wisely and the impossibility to preview the final result. The emotion of creation, a dense probability mist that one cannot explain until we take the risk of first choices.

I have been involved professionally as a painter, stained-glass designer, and fine arts photographer. "

I want to rid myself of the simplistic notion that any location like Skye is just a small collection of landmarks for reasons that may be summarized paraphrasing Francis Bacon (Paul Valery), "to give the sensation without the boredom of conveyance.”

Doug Corrance has been shooting Scotland for over five decades and in this period his work has taken on both cultural and historical significance featuring as it often does, a world that has long gone.

Originally from Inverness, Doug Corrance went from working as a teenager in newspapers to working for the Scottish Tourist Board, as was.

Compared to many of today's overly retouched and sanitised images, Doug is a purist, preferring a similar approach used by the likes of National Geographic, using very little or no post production allowing the reality of the world to be revealed. He has and continues to capture a refreshingly naturalistic (and against a current trend) often upbeat view of Scotland.

Julian Calverley is one of the countries most successful landscape photographers. His dramatic moody landscapes helped establish a style in photography that moved away from the traditional blue skies to reflect a more dramatically realistic and brooding landscape.

A great deal of his work was shot in Scotland.

His award winning limited edition book North North West available signed from Gallery-Close. We are the only gallery to have these in stock. Prices start at £150.

Photographer Saskia Koerner started pursuing her passion for design and creativity as a fashion designer when she launched her clothing label 'Misfit' at the age of 18. Her creative spirit and business acumen resulted in her opening boutiques in South Africa, Europe and Bali.

After several years of being on set for her fashion shoots Saskia chose to pursue her lifelong passion for photography and started taking her own photographs.

Furthering her dream, Saskia graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Art in Photography from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California in 2014 and moved to New York where she worked with legends Mary Ellen Mark, Kenneth Willard & Pier 59 Studios.

Realising real jungles are her true environment and surfing is her ultimate passion Saskia moved back to Bali where she was able to focus on fine art portraiture, with exhibitions in Bali, Byron Bay and Cape Town. Saskia has been shooting internationally for her many clients who appreciate her fine eye and knowledge of fabric and fashion. Her work is featured in magazines, websites and catalogues with campaign shoots for fashion and jewellery.