I started this photo project during lockdown, when I was roaming the streets on my daily walks to stave off the boredom and existential dread. It started when I noticed all the plant growth that had taken place in my neighbourhood while there was less traffic, no street cleaners, and a bit of peace for the urban greenery to take root.
By neighbourhood, I refer to an area covering maybe 3 square miles in the centre of Glasgow, mostly to the south of the Clyde with Bridge Street and Elginton Road as the main artery. I live in Tradeston near the river, I shop, go to the library/GP/pharmacy etc in the Gorbals, and I like to walk up to Pollokshields for a drink or to see pals.
I felt an affinity with these little bits of green, thriving in the bricks and dust and some simply seeming to grow straight out of the concrete itself. Iāve always been fascinated by abandoned urban locations – Life After People being a favourite documentary.
I started taking pictures of my favourite examples, collecting them on Instagram using my own very specific #urbanplantsthatdontgiveafuckš§±š± hashtag.
Over the course of weeks and months, I started to notice other, really cool-looking things about my neighbourhood. A lot of it is very stereotypical āgritty urbanā with abandoned buildings, piles of rubbish and general disrepair, but there are also some incredible sunsets, lush green growth and photo-worthy tableaus laid out on the streets.
(Iām not exaggerating the grittiness by the way, a location 3 streets away from my flat was used to double as 1980s Russia for the Tetris film.)
I wanted to capture how I see my surroundings, finding it a little unfair that your average beautiful painting of a sunset or a tree tends to feature rolling bucolic hillsides and countryside, rather than featuring how gorgeous the sky looks at 4pm on a wintery November day in the Gorbals.
I have now spent four years snapping reference pictures for my āNo Green City?ā collection and spotting elements which repeat over and over. My brain enjoys patterns and itās pleasing to see how the repetition can give the vibe of my locale across the set of pictures. These are the main things I have noticed and photographed:
- Plants growing out of the city itself – in walls, drainpipes, the ground, abandoned buildings, under bridges
- Yellow flowers mostly, and some purple but very rarely any other colours
- Red brick both intact and crumbling
- Bridges and river water and puddles on the concrete that create canvases for the reflections
- Natural elements like trees and grasses joining buildings, electrical and railway wires, poles and cranes/scaffolding to silhouette against the sky
- Dramatic skies and clouds of all seasons, plus rays of light from both the sun and the city lights
- Metal fences and signs and traffic cones
- Graffiti in a range of bright colours and white
- Shadows, sometimes of me
I have over 350 photos in my collection now, and have put my favourite ones into this gallery on my art website. Iāve also been using them as inspiration for art – not just paintings but jewellery too. Making a necklace to celebrate your favourite crumbling wall might be a bit weird, but itās what I want to wear!
Iām planning to do more paintings and also have an idea for a stop-motion short so once I have taught myself how to do that, Iāll be backā¦
