Unique Wartime Photography Exhibition at Orkney Museum

Orkney Museum is excited to support a special exhibition showcasing the work of the NHS Orkney Photo Group, originally created for the Orkney Vintage Club Rally, in a project that bridges the past and present.

‘Recreating the Past Today’ documents the group's effort to recreate wartime photographs of Orkney using authentic cameras from the 1940s, the very same models used by war photographers including Lee Miller, Tony Vaccaro and George Roger.

Following research conducted at the Orkney Library and Archive and in Scapa Flow Museum, the group identified a range of World War Two photographs that could be faithfully recreated on location across the isles.

What began as a request to recreate a single VE Day parade photograph from Kirkwall grew into a wide-ranging project taking in Hatston, HMS Tern, Houton, Hoy, Flotta and the Churchill Barriers.

Central to the project was the group's commitment to authenticity. Rather than using modern digital equipment, members sourced period cameras - including a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex, an Argus C3 rangefinder and a Leica III - and shot the recreations on film, using a Leica lens dating to 1933. The resulting images were developed by the group themselves, which for many was their first time using film cameras and light meters.

The exhibition will include ten paired images showing original wartime photographs alongside the group's modern recreations, a rolling video showcasing the project across the islands, a display of approximately twenty wartime cameras, original darkroom equipment including a 1930s enlarger, and a collection of Navy, RAF and Army uniforms. Period transport, including a motorbike and pedal cycle, will also feature.

The group was supported throughout by Finn and Ruan Lyon, who provided authentic period uniforms for the project's portrait work.

Visitors are encouraged to come and experience this tribute to the photographers and service personnel who were stationed in Orkney during the Second World War.

‘Recreating the Past Today’ will be open to the public from the 7^th of March until the 11^th of April at Orkney Museum.

The Orkney Museum is open Monday to Saturday each week from 10:30-17:00, closing between 12:30-13:30 for lunch from Monday, 2^nd March.