Glasgow Shipyard
About this artwork
Humphrey Spender was sent to Glasgow in 1939 to photograph a story for Picture Post magazine. It formed one of a series of articles concentrating on life in Britain’s industrial cities. His imagery, shot with an unobtrusive 35mm camera, captured various aspects of Glasgow life and continued his anthropological interest by recording everyday activities from across the social spectrum. Despite reporting high unemployment in the ship-building industry and a chronic housing shortage, the tone of the Picture Post article remained positive. There was 'no friendlier city in Britain', it concluded. However, as Spender later noted, Picture Post’s reasons for commissioning the story were driven by the desire to increase its readership in Scotland.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Humphrey Spender (1910 - 2005) English
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title:Glasgow Shipyard
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date created:1939; printed 1986
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printed by:
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materials:Gelatin silver print
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measurements:28.10 x 18.80 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1988
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accession number:PGP 115.1
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gallery:
Humphrey Spender
Humphrey Spender
Spender initially studied architecture in London, but, following his qualification in 1933, he set up a photographic studio. After two years working at the Daily Mirror under the name Lensman, he photographed in Bolton for the Mass Observation movement (an independent body aiming to record the...