FocoPhoco is loosely knit group of photographers based in Scotland, affiliated with TalkSee Photography – we like to go out and do things. In 2015 we were invited to take part in the Environmental Art Festival Scotland. For a long weekend in August in the hills of Durisdeer, in Dumfries and Galloway, we conducted a collective photographic experiment by converting a hikers bothy into a working B&W darkroom. The festival base was on the nearby grounds of Morton Castle, and festival goers were routed past our bothy-come-darkroom as part of the festival’s many trails. We engaged in several photographic collective and self-directed actions over the weekend, while providing visitors the opportunity to expose their own paper pinhole negatives and process them on site. The darkroom was powered by solar charged batteries, provided by the festival, as we were well off-grid.

While the cast of FocoPhoco changes depending on the activity, the role call  for this project includes: Nina Bacos,  Calum Douglas, Alan Knox, Melanie Letore, John Farral, Adian Ford, Ruth MacPherson, Frank McElhinney, Benjamin Rush, Emma Sandström, and a visiting cast of friends and travelers.

Members of FocoPhoco have gone on to produce other collective and curatorial efforts including Milk Diaries, and Notes Journal.