Tiny figures explore Irn-Bru cans in Gordonstoun student collaboration with top photographer

Students teamed up with an award-winning Scottish photographer to create miniature scenes with tiny figures and props, including cans of Irn-Bru.

David Gilliver and pupils at the prestigious Gordonstoun school in Moray used the artist’s “macro photography” technique to shoot a series of miniature dioramas.

They worked with very small figurines and props to create a series of pictures using extreme close-ups.

One features a can of Scotland’s other national drink, with the ring pull used as a basketball hoop.

Another sees the fizzy drink becoming a river for canoeists.

In one image, tiny canoeists paddle down a river of Irn-Bru (Gordonstoun/PA) PA Media

The figures are also seen climbing up a cheese grater, and teeing off on top of a tennis ball.

Gilliver, who won the Macro prize at the 2022 British Photography Awards, put on a workshop for students aged 14 to 18 at Gordonstoun.

He said: “The students got into the creative zone right from the off and I think I saw at least a dozen or so new concepts.

“The trickiest thing with this style of photography is not to kind of copy something obvious. I’ve seen so many fresh ideas today it shows you just how creative these students are.

“You really have to embrace a childlike way of thinking to progress with this style of photography.

In another image, climbers scale a cheese grater (Gordonstoun/PA) PA Media

“My ideas tend to stem from my own interests, whether that be politics, environment, the world, or something newsworthy, or personal experience, all mixed in with a sprinkling of surreal imagination.

“Whatever pops out the other end, pops out through the other end. I’ve done some things like climate change, plastic pollution, some serious things like that, as well as some ridiculously surreal and fun scenes that are amusing as that’s kind of good to decompress with too.

“The images are playful in nature, but you can incorporate some very serious themes into the work as well.”

The artist spent two days at Gordonstoun working with the students. On the first day, he explored the art of light painting in the school’s drama studio, experimenting with long exposure techniques.

Student Hector Munro, 15, said: “I enjoyed that you can be very creative with the artwork and creating the scenes. I have learnt loads about lighting and using the backdrop properly to enhance the images.”

A golfer and his caddy mounted a tennis ball (Gordonstoun/PA) PA Media

Florence Wareing, 16, said: “I learned how not overcrowding the image really gives a better effect overall.

“David was really inspiring, and I really want to explore this in my own projects now.”

The King attended Gordonstoun as did his father Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh.

The boarding school was founded by German educator Dr Kurt Hahn as a way of training self-reliant youngsters and focusing on character-building rather than classroom studying.

Dr Hahn, who was Jewish, was arrested in Germany for resisting Nazi ideas, but was freed thanks to British intervention and fled to the UK, where he set up Gordonstoun in 1934.