In 2008, photographer Chris Leslie embarked on the project that would become Disappearing Glasgow, documenting the process of demolition of a significant number of high-rise flats across Glasgow.
During the course of the project, Chris met an asylum seeker who was the sole occupant in a 30-storey skyscraper, discovered a forgotten underground bingo hall and ultimately, through building relationships with the people and communities affected, became part of the story.
The National Galleries of Scotland welcomed six of Chris' photographs from the project into the collection in 2020. These works were due to be displayed as part of a wider exhibition dedicated to images of architecture. In this three-part audio series, taken from an interview recorded before the nationwide lockdown and subsequent cancellation of the exhibition, Curator Louise Pearson catches up with the photographer to learn more about the project.
Episode 1 - Project overview
In this episode Chris discusses how communities have been affected by the demolition of tower blocks and explains how he met the people he interviewed and photographed.
Episode 2 - Relating to Thomas Annan, David Peat and the cycle of demolition
In the second episode, Chris considers how the Disappearing Glasgow project relates to the work of historic photographers Thomas Annan and David Peat and how he feels housing in Glasgow will be documented in the future.
Episode 3 - Photographs
In the concluding episode of this three-part series, we find out more about two of the photographs that have entered our collection, The last resident of the Red Road Flats and Staircase in the Red Road Flats.