STILL PHOTOGRAPHY

 

Photography was the key motivation that took David into his career in television and film. This fascination with the photographic image came from childhood experiences with his maternal grandmother, an enthusiastic amateur with her own darkroom. He often remembered endless happy hours watching negative become positive in a world of black-and-white.

 

Though his career was in television, he never lost his love of still photography. Continually inspired by the masters of street photography and their skill at seeing and hunting a meaningful image within a moment in time, David quietly built his own personal portfolio of images during a working life around the world.

 

His earliest work was a portfolio of images from 1968 of the street life of children in Glasgow, taken against the background of crumbling tenement buildings and a city in transition. These now have an extraordinary archival value and add to the body of work on life in Glasgow created around the same time by other noted Scottish photographers like Oscar Marzaroli and Joseph McKenzie.

 

From 1970 until 2012 his collection of street photography, from around the world, continued to grow. The images bring together David's very personal view on the world around him, from Sydney to New York, Quito to Hong Kong, often reflecting a wry humour as they capture brief moments very recognisable to those who enjoy observing humanity and all its quirks. With their roots firmly in the classic street photography genre, he hoped that these images would be seen as a welcome addition to the body of work produced by Scottish photographers.