New photo project captures 24 hours of life in Glasgow

It has captured a day in the life of Scotland’s biggest city and the vast array of characters that can be found on its streets.

A “visual library” of more than 2,000 images has been compiled as part of a project to document modern-day Glasgow over the course of 24 hours.

Late-night revellers, street entertainers, shoppers, subway commuters, stag party revellers, football fans and students have all been given starring roles in the online archive.

Some 50 amateur and professional photographers took part in the “social experiment”, which ran from midnight to midnight on 7 April.

Celebrated landmarks cast in a new light include the Barrowland Ballroom, the People’s Palace, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Central Station and the King’s Theatre.

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But they also headed out into bustling thoroughfares like Buchanan Street. Sauchiehall Street and George Square to capture ordinary Glaswegians and visitors to the city.

Inspired by the Humans of New York blog, which has more than 25 million followers on social media, A Day in the Life of Glasgow was aimed at “capturing the essence of a single day” in the city.

Back alleys, takeaways, underpasses, rooftops. graveyards and shopping malls are all featured in the new online archive, which has been masterminded by award-winning Edinburgh-born photographer, Mark Waugh, who was on the streets of Glasgow for all 24 hours.

Glasgow’s historic former police boxes, the statue of a fireman outside Central Station, graffiti art, an open-top tourist bus and even the pigeons that descend on the city centre were captured as part of the project.

A selection of the photographs will eventually be immortalised in a vast work of art, which will be displayed in a yet-to-be-confirmed city centre location.

Mr Waugh, who joined forces with the company Cartridge Save to create A Day in the Life of Glasgow, said: “Glaswegians are ‘salt of the earth’ sort of people. There are some run characters, without a doubt, but the people are full of colour.

“The main thing that surprised me was that I didn’t realise how cosmopolitan Glasgow is now. A lot of international people are in the city and it has also become a lot more sophisticated.

“I didn’t have a real structure to the day and I wasn’t looking for particular things as I wandered around. I was just hoping to see things. I really wanted to observe the day and it was pretty much a free-for-all with the other photographers. They could go where they wanted, when then wanted.

“The nightlife in Glasgow was an obvious thing to try to capture. It was an excuse to see what bizarre things people get up to. There is a great busker who turns up with a music system on a trolley and it is amazing to watch. At first he has a couple of people looking at him as if he is a bit odd, but as soon as one person starts dancing there is a whole disco in the street. Even the boy racers who zoom around Glasgow were stopping to dance.”

Ian Cowley, managing director of Cartridge Save, said: “With the help of talented photographers from across the city we’ve captured the fast-paced, ever-changing world around us, ensuring those unique moments are now forever frozen in time providing a unique legacy to the city of Glasgow. The overwhelming amount of interest we had magnifies how much the people of the city appreciate the arts and its culture.”

To view all the images in the visual library click here.