Through My Eyes - My Christmas
7th - 23rd December 2023
Gallery 103, Trongate 103 Glasgow G1 5HD
‘Through My Eyes’ is a collaboration between photographer Iain McLean and Simon Community Scotland which seeks to document the life of people experiencing homelessness during the festive season. The project came into being in December 2022 when a collection of old digital cameras were provided to a group of creative individuals supported by the charity. Their shared goal was to capture the experiences of homelessness during Christmas. What began as a weekly photography group, evolved into a moving collection of images depicting the reality of rough sleeping, street begging, and living in unstable accommodation during the Christmas period.
Taking inspiration from the ‘Out of Home’ exhibition carried out with people experiencing homelessness in London during the coronavirus pandemic, ‘Through My Eyes’ provided an opportunity for participants to guide their own creative photography process, capturing images that summed up their day-to-day life in the city of Glasgow. Moving between the city streets, to emergency accommodations in the midst of the harsh Glasgow climate, the images highlight moments that often go unnoticed when the world is looking the other way.
Shown for the first time in December in 2023 in Trongate 103, the images are accompanied by the words and thoughts of each photographer, bringing their stories to life.
Banner Image: © Owen
Left Image: © Laura