Say cheese, you’re the saltire of the earth

Edinburgh-based website Blipfoto.com, which encourages users to take a daily photograph to create a picture blog, will this week launch a call for tens of thousands of photographs based on the saltire flag to be uploaded.

The pictures, which will be collected from St Andrew’s Day on Wednesday, will then be turned frame by frame into a film to be premiered globally on Burns Night in January.

Each picture must feature the Scottish flag – but what surrounds the central saltire is up to the individual photographer.

A joint venture between Blip and the Scottish Government, “Scotland The World Over” follows the success of a frame-by-frame film based on photos from the site that was created for the Fringe Festival last year and has since attracted more than 50,000 web hits.

“It was very experimental, but it gave us the spark of an idea, and months later came the concept of Scotland the World Over,” said Joe Tree, who launched Blip from his bedroom in Leith seven years ago.

Initially popular among Scottish photographers – both professional and amateur – the website, where people upload an image to represent a single day in their life, is now used by more than 160,000 “Blippers” from 170 countries.

Mr Tree added: “There’s an obvious parallel between the way Blipfoto reaches out and touches people’s lives around the world and the positive global influence Scotland has long enjoyed. Blipfoto is a truly global community, but we’re very proud of our Scottish roots.

“You don’t even need to get out of your chair to get involved – you just need a saltire in some form, but whatever is in the background of the picture depends on where you are and what you’re doing.

“We are expecting a very emotional film which will celebrate Scotland’s reach around the world.”

Participants do not have to be Scottish – or even have a tangible link to Scotland – but have to have been “touched” by the country, or some aspect of Scottish culture, even if their connection is only through Blip.

Mr Tree is currently putting the finishing touches to plans for a major premiere in Edinburgh – although he also hopes the film, which is to be set to music, will be screened simultaneously across Scotland and elsewhere in the world.

An iPhone app is available, which, in addition to acting as an automatic uploader for photos to be included in the project, will screen the film at the time of the premiere on 25 January.

Some existing members of the Blip community have already heard about the project and have submitted photographs for use in the film.

The name for the project was inspired by the final line of the Robert Burns poem A Man’s a Man for A’ That: “That Man to Man, the world o’er, Shall brothers be for a’ that.”

Education secretary Mike Russell said: “‘Scotland The World Over’ is a great idea and will provide a fantastic showcase to celebrate Scotland both at home and abroad.

“As a nation, we’ve always enjoyed a strong international profile and this wonderfully exciting project can only build on that.”

Photographs can be uploaded, including using a webcam, via the project’s website – www.blipfoto.com/theworldover – or using the iPhone App.