AN exhibition charting the photography of a former Earl is being developed at Thirlestane Castle.

The new photography exhibition features works by the 14th Earl of Lauderdale which have never been on public display before.

The exhibition will include some of the early bromoil printing techniques used by Frederick Colin Maitland at the turn of the last century, as well as pre-Photoshop examples of edited images and how these were achieved.

As well as never before seen images, there will also be a selection of his more vernacular work to give audiences a taster of the 14th Earl’s broad range of photographic skills.

Entitled ‘Theoretical Sharpness’, the exhibition has been created by local photography artist Sam Cornwell.

He was tasked with beginning the curation, study and preservation of the 14th Earl’s extensive archive that dates from the late 19th century.

During his work he was fascinated by a series of images of clouds which the 14th Earl used as a library for the editing of his work.

The title of the exhibition comes from one of many columns Maitland wrote for a national newspaper in the 1920s.

A phrase he coined that epitomises his work; he considered that photographs in total sharpness were not artistic at all, and this is reflected in his award winning work.

Edward Maitland-Carew said: “I am so thrilled to be able to share my great, great grandfather’s amazing work with a wider audience.

"The 14th Earl of Lauderdale was extremely talented and very much at the forefront of the photography world winning many awards for his work.

"Sam Cornwell has done a fantastic job at examining these unique pieces and preparing them for display.”

The exhibition will be open from 10am daily between Monday and Thursday, August 5 and 8 and is included in the normal admission ticket to the castle.