The Leith area of Edinburgh regularly ranks as one of the coolest places in the world, so it was the obvious place for HCA students to explore Lomography, asking what Leith feels like and answering, "Because ..." A brand new exhibition has opened at the Wee Museum of Memory in Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, Leith. Based on a collaboration between Dr Huw Halstead, Lecturer in Public History, in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology (HCA) and Professor Carl Smith a Visiting Scholar from the University of Arkansas, ten HCA-affiliated students were asked, “What is Leith? Not what it looks like, but how it feel? What does it mean to the people who walk its streets?" using “Lomography”, an analogue photography movement that treats imperfection as a virtue rather than a disadvantage and sees photography as part of everyday life.Dr Halstead said, “Carl and I have a shared interest in the relationships people develop to historical landscapes. We are not just interested in how these landscapes look, but more importantly how they feel. So, rather than using modern digital cameras that produce precise and high-fidelity images, we used analogue point-and-shoot cameras that prioritise instinct and embrace imperfection." From left: Caitlin Tambini, "Because it was silhouetted against the sky." Shot on Kodak Ektar H35N; Rocio Aciar Lovey, "It shows the prints of a plant that tried to adapt to urbanism, but it had to be controlled", Ruby McIntee, "Swan". Shot on Pentax K1000. Borrowing a technique from the French photographer Sophie Calle’s project "Parce Que", the students annotated each photograph with a short ‘Because…’ statement, explaining why they took the photograph. Next, they attended a “gestural drawing” workshop with Prof Smith, practising an abstract sketching style that emphasises feeling and meaning rather than artistic skill. Professor Smith then produced his own drawings, inspired by the students’ photographs, drawings, and words.Lomography in Leith runs throughout May and June 2026 in The Wee Museum of Memory, First Floor, Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, Edinburgh. You can find out more about The Wee Museum of Memory at the link below. The Wee Museum of Memory Tags Archaeology Classics History Students Publication date 19 May, 2026
