Edinburgh, 1980s: Photographs by Graham MacIndoe

As a young punk growing up in Broxburn, West Lothian, Graham MacIndoe started on his creative path studying painting at Edinburgh College of Art. That all changed when he developed a passion for photography, documenting student protests and street life around 1980s Edinburgh, photographing punk gigs and creating intimate portraits of ordinary people going about their day-to-day lives.

Ordinary People

Graham would go out every weekend when he wasn’t in the painting studios at college, taking lots of photographs. He wanted to document the real Edinburgh, the lives of ordinary people in the working-class parts of the city, away from the tourist attractions portrayed worldwide, places like Craigmillar, Wester Hailes and Pilton.

"My photographs were a bit of a backlash against Colin Baxter, who did all the picture postcard stuff. It wasn't the Edinburgh that I associated with." - Graham MacIndoe.

Stills Gallery

Murray Johnson, the former director of Stills Gallery, had started a photography department at the art school. He took Graham under his wing and introduced him to photobooks by Robin Gillanders and Murdo MacLeod. Graham carried his Olympus RM1 everywhere, taking pictures of student protests during the Thatcher era. “They cut grants and made life difficult for everyone”, he said. In contrast to his images of protests, he would take photos of young families enjoying the beach and amusement arcades in Portobello.

MacIndoe has lived in New York for many years and now works as an associate professor of photography at Parsons The New School in New York City. He continues to document the current political climate in New York City and is the long-term photographer for acclaimed band The National.

Gallery

Published
March 24, 2021