so these 60 photographs were taken by one French photographer called Raymond Depardon. He came to Glasgow to make a photo essay that was not published at the time but the images were recently re discovered and made into a book and an exhibition, I have the book.  Part of his brief was to document " social deprivation" and to that end he had a local guide who took him to the bleakest and most derelict parts of Glasgow at that time, Govan and Maryhill, and the photographer chose to focus on those two areas of the city. I  was born in Govan ,Glasgow, and I also happen to be a professional photographer so I can appreciate the pictorial power of the images and the talent of  the photographer .My one issue with them is looking at them as a whole they present quite a bleak and depressing impression of a very large city when in fact the images were taken in a very small area of the city. If you went to just about any UK city in 1980 you could find this kind of dereliction and social deprivation if you wanted to. Every city has its more downbeat areas, the photographer had a fixed idea of what aspects  of a city he was going to select with his camera lens.....and to that end I guess he succeeded in fulfilling his own brief . Those streets and the people existed, but it is not what I remember about Glasgow. It looks like another planet to me in these images, and great as the images are, for me they present an unbalanced view of what Glasgow was like back then. What they present is a particular view that existed in a particular area of the city. I mean if you went to the slums of Harlem NYC in 1970 and took 60 photographs you couldn't really present them as being what NYC is all about,  you could present them as a detail of NYC...it is a part of the city, but not the whole part. What Raymond Depardon has done is exactly that, he has presented a detail of Glasgow, but that detail does not represent the whole city.

In such a grey scenery, any colorful object stands out. Glascow looks extremely photogenic through these beautiful photos

I remember doing my student teaching practice in Glasgow, mid 90's. I was at Jordanhill - it was lovely, leafy green and grand. As a small town Canadian girl, I was overwhelmed living in a city, full stop, so I'll never forget my first teaching practice placement in Possilpark... I was so glad that the university had sent a fellow classmate and I on the same placement (my pal was from Belfast and didn't scare easily, LOL). In the end, the kids at the school were fantastic and I met some really hard working parents. That being said, I'm sure I never walked so fast as I did from the bus stop to that school in Possilpark. I think back very fondly on my time in Glasgow. It is a city with a lot of challenges but it also has a ton of heart.

Littlest of kids are around 44 years old now and their young mom's pushing 70.

I wonder if any of these thought that 43 years later there would be some random people all over the world seeing them..

I was 15 then and remember  the 80s in Glasgow with fondness

Did my apprenticeship in Glasgow in the 1970's - while I saw these areas - the warm people of the city compensated for it and
while I lived in Edinburgh for a while - I felt at home in Glasgow !

My place of birth has come a long way since those days, a great city.

You never see the other side of Glasgow  - even in 1980 when I was a student, much of Glasgow had a good vibe going on: there were beautiful areas of town, and Glasgow had more parks than any other city in Europe. Most of the areas shown in these photos are unrecognisable now, the tenements have been cleaned and developed into lovely flats. Glasgow still has it's tough areas, but no more than most large UK cities these days.

Love seeing the old cars.

Love these sort of photos, all natural, no posing for the camera

Ffs I was in a good mood before I started watching this. Glesga was a grim place when I was growing up in the gorbals. People had absolutely nothing and didn’t live, they existed.

UNBELIEVABLE SOCIAL COMMENTARY!

Omg that second bit of music is dire.

I knew a guy from this part of glasgow, a kinder and more generous man you couldn't meet, he was real salt of the Earth.

Govan was my stomping ground back in the late 70s and early 80s. Not been back since. Its odd to see these photos after all these years and realize just how run down the area was. Of course as a child you dont see any of that.

Speaking as someone born in 1964, brought up in working class streets and reading the comments posted here, its worth pointing out that while much of the buildings in these photos are now gone or abutted by newbuilds the vibe is just as 'bleak', especially if you wander the streets of parts of Govan, the East End or Shawlands etc. on a wet, windswept January day. Which isnt to condemn but to emphasise that the same problems and imbalance perpetuate, its just that we tend to not notice, visually as we are living our own time with our distractions and internal concerns. I am an artist and streetphotographer wandering the same streets today. One other detail worth bearing in mind while viewing these images is that they are mostly poorly exposed , possibly slidefilm which makes the colours and light darker and even bleaker than the same shots had they been individually printed by hand. It's almost impossible to take shots like this nowadays on our sophisticated phones whose computers do the work for us on auto and enhanced settings.

Great images, however Glasgow of the 70,s and eighties was rough as hell!

I grew up as a lad in Glasgow at the top of Partick through the 70s and early 80s ,my parents were lucky enough move out to Livingston new town which is closer to Edinburgh, it was a breath of fresh air I had never seen so much greenery and blue sky in my life it was farmer fields as far as the eye could see nothing like it is now ,but it was a bit soulless, I did move back to Glasgow in my late teens when I got a job in Glasgow as I really missed the Glasgow people and way of life I also put myself through University in Glasgow it was not easy, you can take the boy out of Glasgow but you can take Glasgow out the boy. Unfortunately for personal reasons I had to move back to the east where I am now but I do think about Glasgow often.

Fantastic!.....Hauntingly beautful images.