Almost 40 years later, their story is being told in a new exhibition opening this month.
Disparate Individuals: Common Cause is part of Glasgow’s Street Level Photoworks’ 35th anniversary celebration, and it brings together some of the most well-known names in Scottish photography.
Running from August 24 until 26 September at Milngavie’s Lillie Art Gallery, the exhibition brings together work by a range of photographers who were active members of the Glasgow Photography Group (GPG) from 1987 to 1989.
Following a letter to 28 photographers by Archie McLellan, GPG was formed in April 1987 as an informal association of independent photographers in the Glasgow area.
Initially its aim was to provide a forum for those involved in independent photography to meet on a regular basis, exchange ideas and collaborate on the production of exhibitions.
Monthly meetings took place, alongside slide presentations by invited speakers as a basis for critical discussion. A few exhibitions also took place – at Hillhead Library, Glasgow Opportunities, Mitchell Library and the Corridor Gallery (Glenrothes).
Attendance at meetings grew as did their regularity and this encouraged the group to organise itself more formally with a constitution, a newsletter and the possibility of establishing a more permanent structure to serve the interests of photographers in Glasgow.
GPG became Street Level Photoworks, established in 1989.
“Many people were key to the continuity of GPG, and it is because of their energy and determination that Street Level Gallery and Workshop, as it was called, was established in 1989,” explains Malcolm Dickson, curator of the show and Director of Street Level Photoworks.
“This exhibition is part of that acknowledgement which is equally extended to those not mentioned here.
“The photographers in Disparate Individuals : Common Cause all exhibited variously in the first four exhibitions by GPG (alongside many others) and the work included is from different periods of time – before, during and after GPG – but all telling a story of their journeys in and through photography.”
The exhibition features works by Robert Burns, Alan Dimmick, Roger Farnham, Sarah Mackay, Kay Ritchie, Stewart Shaw and Sandy Sharp.
Malcolm added: “Thanks to Alan Dimmick, Kay Ritchie, Edith Sharp, and Robert Burns for their cooperation and generosity.
“A special debt of gratitude to Sarah Mackay, Roger Farnham, and Stewart Shaw, without whose diligence in maintaining the records much of this history would be lost. It is yet to be fully told.”