2nd October 2006
The Best of Inverclyde in Focus at
Holyrood
An exhibition of photographs charting
Inverclyde’s current transformation could be heading to the Scottish
Parliament.
Inverclyde
Camera Club’s ranks of experienced photographers are being dispatched to
capture the finer side of Inverclyde and produce a permanent record of the
area’s regeneration.
The
project is being backed by MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, who
wants to showcase the photographs in the Garden Lobby of the Scottish Parliament
next year.
Inverclyde
Camera Club President, Gaie Brown, explained:
“Too
often, photography exhibitions depict Inverclyde as nothing but derelict
shipyards, poor-looking folk and rundown houses – a recent exhibition of
photographs taken along the A8 corridor at the Lighthouse, Glasgow being a prime
example. Those of us who live here,
however, know that Inverclyde can be a breathtaking and exciting place – and
that’s what we want to capture on film.”
Mr
McNeil added:
“You
just need to look around Inverclyde to see how our community, especially the
waterfront, is being transformed. A
permanent record of this exciting time should be kept, not only for our benefit,
but to showcase Inverclyde to the rest of the country and beyond.
“I
am therefore delighted that the Camera Club has launched this project and hope
to arrange for the photographs to be exhibited in the Scottish Parliament’s
Garden Lobby, allowing MSPs, Ministers, staff and visitors from around the world
to see the best of Inverclyde.”
Inverclyde
Camera Club has been working on this project since April.
The McLean Museum is booked for an exhibition in March 2007 the club has
instigated a schools’ competition, encouraging local youngsters to look afresh
at their environment and take pride in it. The
club has been working with schools’ cultural officer, Moira McKay, to get the
competition off the ground and the Golden Casket is generously offering prizes
for the winners and tubes of Millions for every entrant.
The
Club is also seeking sponsorship from many of the firms involved in the building
work on the waterfront. Although
the initial response has been disappointing, club members are redoubling their
efforts to ensure sufficient funds are in place.
Encouraging
local business to back the project, Mr McNeil said:
“It’s
in everyone’s interests – including the business community’s – for
Inverclyde to be seen as the ideal area to live, visit or work and contribute to
the local economy. This project
aims to do exactly that and I would imagine, if we’re successful in staging
the exhibition in Holyrood, that local businesses and the construction companies
would want to be associated with it.”
Ms
Brown concluded:
“I
want this exhibition to show how lucky we are to live in a place where the hills
and the sea are within walking distance, where there are beautiful buildings and
wide tree-lined streets, where there are spacious parks and riverside walkways
and where the sunsets can take your breath away.
“We
firmly believe that this is a truly worthwhile project which will not only
benefit Inverclyde in the short term, but will also provide a permanent record
of the area in 2006, which in years to come will be of great interest
historically. There are, for instance, images of Glasgow in 1955 taken by
Partick Camera Club, presently hanging in the Kelvingrove Art Galleries.”
For
more information on the project, see www.pictureinverclyde.co.uk
ENDS
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