The mesmerising Glasgow landscapes which Martin Hunter has shot over the last decade show us a city unrecognisable from the brochures promoting the “Style Mile” or the Merchant City. In this series, Martin gone off-road, he has lugged his large-format Linhof camera around the winds of the River Kelvin and over the eastend’s “spare” ground. These are the places left behind by recession, over-run by nature, and occasionally-inhabited by groups of men who seek the outdoors for a brew and a blether.
Document Scotland caught-up with Martin and asked him to explain how these pictures came about and why, as a photographer who is largely know for his portraiture,  he felt compelled to undertake this project.

“I like Glasgow. I like the place and I like the people. But what made it world significant is dead and what makes it unique may be dying.
Glaswegians must wonder at what has happened and what is to happen with the city. What does it now do? What can it do?

As you walk around parts of the city now it’s a little like being an archaeologist stumbling through a baffling and sometimes impressive wreck. There are glimpses of the past and you can tell it must have made sense once, (100 years ago?). But I wonder now at the incoherence of the place. It‘s sodden and sad and just not making sense any more.

Many cities are like this now in the UK, but Glasgow is my home town. I’m looking it in the face every day.

These pictures feed off these feelings about the place. It’s a City that appals me and astonishes me. It baffles me and fills me with wonder.

That’s got to be worth a picture.”

– Martin Hunter, photographer. Glasgow, Oct. 2012.

All images and text are © Martin Hunter 2012, all rights reserved.