A foto opportunity: Showcasing Scotland’s creativity

These eye-catching images are just some of the 2,000 pictures already submitted as part of a national campaign to illustrate the creativity of Scotland and its people. Launched at the end of June, the See Us… initiative encourages members of the public to upload pictures from their daily lives to Blipfoto, the photo-sharing site used by tens of thousands of people worldwide.

The project, part of the Year of Creative Scotland, is a collaboration between Creative Scotland, Blipfoto and The Scotsman and has attracted entries from the United States and New Zealand, as well as pictures and stories of everything from the Edinburgh Festivals and T in the Park to the Pittenweem Art Festival.

Among the most striking is a picture of a huge mural on the side of a building in Glasgow. Kevin Smyth, who took the picture, says: “I had to go into Glasgow city centre to pick up a pair of trousers I was getting altered and I spotted this big mural next to the shop in Mitchell Street.

“I think it looks fantastic. All I had to do was wait for a passer-by to walk close enough to it, so that it looks as though he is about to be nabbed by the giant woman.”

Another, by Mary Gillies, shows a sculpture at the Caol Ruadh Sculpture Park in Colintraive, Argyll. Writing on Blipfoto, she says: “This (sculpture), part of a group by Rob Mulholland, really appealed to me. I first saw it when the tide was out and photographed it from all angles. Every image looked so different as the reflective material of the sculptor creates a different vision from wherever you view it. I went back later on when the tide was out and waded around this particular figure to get more images. This was my favourite.”

Kenneth Fowler, director of communications for Creative Scotland, which is running the project in partnership with Blipfoto and The Scotsman, says the overall quality of the entries had been high. “I’m delighted by the response so far to the See Us… project. The quality of entries has been amazing with some inspiring interpretations of what Scottish creativity means to us today.

“The project is clearly illustrating the important role that creativity plays in all our lives, whoever we may be, and I’m particularly pleased to see lots of entries that capture creativity in everyday situations. Keep them coming.”

Started by Edinburgh photographer Joe Tree in 2004, Blipfoto encourages people to take and publish one photo a day to chart their thoughts and experiences. Users can subscribe to each others’ journals and comment on others’ images.

Initially popular among Scottish photographers – both professional and amateur – the site quickly grew. More extreme “blippers” – the name for those using the site – include a British geologist and mountaineer living in the Arctic, as well as deep-sea captains blipping from the middle of the ocean and security experts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A panel, including author Ian Rankin, violinist Nicola Benedetti and the education secretary, Mike Russell, will choose their favourite entries for an exhibition and publication later this year. The minister, who “blips” every day, says: “Scotland has a strong and vibrant creative life and the See Us project provides a great platform to showcase that spirit through the experiences all of our people.”

Entries can still be submitted through blipfoto.com/seeus and the site will remain open throughout the autumn. Contributors can submit as many entries as they wish. Each can be a stand-alone entry portraying a single act of Scottish creativity, or a series of entries over a few days, a week or even a month to create one big story.