Larry puts us in the picture
Gritty photographs document industrial decline
A fascinating exhibition of gritty and atmospheric photographs has opened at Paisley Museum.
The show, dubbed Clydeside 1974 to 1976, is the work of New York-based photographer Larry Herman, and several of the pieces were taken in Ferguslie Park and Linwood.
Mr Herman took the pictures when the industrialised region was in serious economic decline, and the show features a new handprinted set of 78 black and white gelatin prints.
He said: “At the time I was shooting these pictures, I had no idea they would have some resonance in 2017.
“I didn’t take the photographs with posterity in mind, but as a documentary of what was happening at the time.
“I photographed people in the situations they found themselves in and I wanted my work to be realistic.”
Born in New York, Larry Herman trained as a sculptor and immigrated to the UK during the Vietnam War.
His photography career flourished in the 70s, but he gave up taking pictures in the 80s and became a guard and train driver on the London Underground. He worked later as a welder in a Sheffield steelworks.
He took up photography again in 1993, and returned to London in 1999.
Much of Mr Herman’s work has been held in a collection by the Scottish Arts Council, but has now been distributed to various holdings, including the National Galleries of Scotland.
Joyce McKellar, chief executive of Paisley Museum administrator Renfrewshire Leisure, said: “People coming to see this exhibition will be able to take a step back in time.
“These photographs graphically document what was happening to the working-class of the area during an acute economic decline. The exhibition will be of particular interest to Renfrewshire as quite a few of the photographs were taken in Paisley and Linwood.”
The exhibition will run until Sunday, August 20.
Admission is free.