Six photographers shoot the art of craftsmanship

Macallan Masters — Magnum photographers – including Martin Parr and Alec Soth – come together to capture the construction of the new Macallan Distillery in Speyside, Scotland, shooting the awe-inspiring build over the course of three years.

Magnum have teamed up with The Macallan Distillers for a new series, titled The Macallan Masters of Photography.

Tasked with documenting the construction of the latter’s new distillery, six photographers – Steve McCurry, Martin Parr, Paolo Pellegrin, Mark Power, Georgui Pinkhassov and Alec Soth – spent three years photographing the Macallan site and the surrounding area. They were given complete creative freedom.

“[Macallan] were looking for a group of photographers who could document the build over a number of years. Magnum is strongest when the group comes together on a project – so we were the perfect fit,” says Tim Paton, Commercial Director at Magnum.

From Paolo Pellegrin’s expansive, monochrome shots of the Macallan structure and awe-inspiring Elches Estate on which it’s situated, to Alec Soth’s warm depictions of the characters overseeing its construction and subsequent running, each photographer offers a unique interpretation of the same brief.

The result is a limited edition object d’art, comprising six signed prints – one from each photographer – an exclusive photo book as well as a special limited release Macallan whisky. Together, they tell the Macallan story in the Magnum way.

“The brilliant thing about this project is that each of the photographers were basically shooting the same things in a restricted area,” adds Paton.

“They all had to shoot either on the new distillery construction site or on the Macallan Estate. This meant that each photographers style is very visible in the final book. It is a true reflection of the diversity of the Magnum photographer membership.”