Wendy McMurdo | The Digital Mirror
2026
‘Working at the forefront of developments in digital photography, Wendy McMurdo: The Digital Mirror, charts 20-years of ground-breaking work by this pioneering photographer. McMurdo has blazed a trail in the experimental use of computers and digital tools in photography from the early days of computer-based learning in schools to the growth of the internet and networked gaming. Wendy McMurdo: The Digital Mirror comes at a time when the digital landscape is changing faster than ever before, with technology offering limitless possibilities and scope for imaginative learning. With children spending more and more time online, the exhibition offers a fascinating insight into the impact of technology on learning and play in childhood.’
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/wendy-mcmurdo-digital-mirror
Project Information
Wendy McMurdo | The Digital Mirror
30th May – 25th October 2026
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Edinburgh, UK
‘Alongside McMurdo’s work, including a newly configured moving image projection, visitors will discover a range of objects that may be familiar. Find items selected from museums including early 20th century children’s toys, an Eduardo Paolozzi sculpture and the painting Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch (The Skating Minister) by Henry Raeburn. Explore why these artworks have influenced McMurdo’s work and what this has to do with how we learn and access culture.
Over the last 30 years, Wendy McMurdo has made a key contribution to Scotland’s international reputation as a centre for contemporary art. This exhibition coincides with the bicentenary year of the Royal Scottish Academy to which McMurdo was the first woman photographer to be elected.’
A publication was produced to mark the exhibition with commissioned essays by Professor David Hopkins and Professor Patricia Allmer.
Both commissioned essays also available online:
David Hopkins ‘Mediumistic Beings: Wendy McMurdo’s Photographs of children’
Patricia Allmer ‘Imprints Wendy McMurdo’s Photographs’