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Press pics display puts focus on snapshot of Scottish life

A collection of photographs hand-picked from the archives of Glasgow newspapers The Herald and Evening Times are to go on display at the city’s Mitchell Library.

Between them the picture desks of the two titles amassed more than 6m photographs during the 20th century, and now some of the most memorable images from the archives are to go on show – many which have not seen the light of day for more than 50 years.

The free exhibition Picture This – 50 years of classic Glasgow press photography will open to the public on September 17.

It will feature 100 photographs taken between 1930 and 1980, covering themes such as children, leisure, shipbuilding and sport. An additional 100 images will also be available to view via a slide show.

Group picture editor Rob Sibbald, who with the help of a team of researchers sifted through the papers’ hard copy archive to choose the images for display, said the exhibition followed the success of the group’s TimesPast supplement.

He said: “TimesPast has proved immensely popular with the public and has allowed us to get those images into people’s houses.

“But it is not necessarily the best way for them to be seen as newsprint doesn’t always do them justice.

“The images that will go on display have been rescanned, cleaned up and restored to their former glory on photographic paper.

“We have discovered photographs that we didn’t even know existed. It is a very exciting project to be involved in.”

The Mitchell Library is open from 9am – 8pm Monday – Thursday, and 9am – 5pm Friday and Saturday. The exhibition will be on show until October 16.

  • Some 2m hard copy images from the newspapers’ archives were moved to the Mitchell Library earlier this year to preserve the unique collection.

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