“All of these photos were taken on a weekend return from art college to visit my parents in the east end of Glasgow in 1975,” says John J Brady. “I obviously hadn’t mastered the camera and light meter combo that I’d borrowed from the college and the original negatives are in a poor state. But the images capture a place in time.”
John’s photographs of Glasgow are authentic. The mixed light is reminiscent of Léonard Misonne’s extraordinary photographs. We see the city’s landmarks and children playing by their decaying tenements. A year later a visiting Dutch couple arrived, taking colour photos of the city that became more interesting the longer they stayed. But something about the lack of colour makes you look twice at John’s images. “Black and white are the colors of photography,” observed the great Robert Frank. “To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.”
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