The One LP Project by William Ellis
17th October to 19th November 2026
Dunoon Burgh Hall
One LP is a unique and critically-acclaimed portrait photography project that explores the inspirational qualities of recordings and the impact that they have on people’s lives. The project has been touring the world for several years in various formats, launching originally in New York, and we are delighted to present it at Dunoon for its second Scottish showing.
Each portrait features the subject holding a recording that is of great personal significance to them. The photograph is accompanied by a short interview that explores the meaning and value of the selected album. One LP has come to represent a journey into another’s soul: the album that each artist selected is a part of them: their past, present and future.
“The project commenced in 2010 as a response to conversations with musicians about their relationship with the work of other artists encountered via recordings, in particular, conversations that had focused on albums that had profoundly moved the subjects. As a conversation is of course transient – usually committed only to memory - I decided to create a format that would enable me to document my interactions with the artists. The One LP Project is the outcome - something that excavates layers of memory, influence, being and uniqueness.” William Ellis, 2026
This specially compiled exhibition will feature more than 120 portraits and interviews.
The exhibition consists of predominantly leading jazz artists, as well as reggae artists, record producers, DJs and visual artists photographed in New York, Los Angeles and Jamaica. Prominent photographers included are Terry O’Neill, Jürgen Schadeberg, Lynn Goldsmith and Bob Gruen. At Glasgow International Jazz Festival, artists photographed include Benny Golson, Carol Kidd, Terence Blanchard, and Warren Vache.
About William Ellis
Born in 1957 in Liverpool, he is a self-taught photographer whose work has appeared in The Times, The Guardian, New Statesman and on the BBC, magazines and record covers. In his role as Visiting Research Fellow in Photographing Popular Music Culture at Birmingham City University he has contributed a chapter of the new book entitledRethinking Miles Davis,published by Oxford University Press in the year of the centenary of Miles Davis’ birth. His work has been exhibited widely and his photographs are in the collections of major cultural institutions including The National Portrait Gallery, London; Birmingham City University/National Jazz Archive; The American Jazz Museum (Kansas City, MO); The ARChive of Contemporary Music (New York City); The University of the West Indies (Kingston Jamaica)/ Institute of Caribbean Studies and Reggae Studies; Jazz Institut Darmstadt (Germany); Birdland Jazz Club (New York City) — where his work is on public display.
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Gregory Porter - One LP: Donny Hathaway 'Live' released 1972
"The Donny Hathaway Live album is so special because it captures - with full concentration - the thing that's special in live performance. That communication, that exchange of audience and artist. There's back and forth conversation, the women and the men in the audience are screaming things back to Donny and Donny's of course responding musically - and responding incredibly musically. You can feel the emotion in the room as soon as the needle hits the record. That communication - it's not just jazz, it's not just soul, it's human to human. That exchange between humanity is just beautiful to see. It happens on Donny Hathaway Live." - Gregory Porter: Band on the Wall, Manchester, 2012
Banner Image: Samara Joy © William Ellis
Inset Image: Gregory Porter © William Ellis
