Industrial Renfrewshire is in the frame

An exhibition of photographs showing the industrial decline of Renfrewshire and the Clydeside in the mid-70s has opened at Paisley Museum.

New York-born photographer Larry Herman took the series of pictures between 1974 and 1976 when the once-heavily industrialised region was suffering from many shipyard and factory closures.

Herman has hand-printed a new set of 78 black and white gelatin prints for the free exhibition, which is being toured by Street Level Photoworks.

The exhibition – called Clydeside 1974-76 – runs from Saturday until Sunday, August 20.

Several of the images were taken in Ferguslie and Linwood, giving an intimate glimpse into the lives of local workers four decades ago.

Much of Herman’s work was held in a collection by the Scottish Arts Council, but has now been distributed to various holdings, including the National Galleries of Scotland.

Herman was born in New York, trained as a sculptor and immigrated to the UK during the Vietnam War.

Joyce McKellar, chief executive of Renfrewshire Leisure, which runs sports, leisure and cultural facilities locally, said:“These photographs graphically document what was happening to the working-class of the area during an acute economic decline.”