ASSIGNMENT 4: A SENSE OF PLACE

It seemed sensible to work on this assigment in conjunction with Assignment 3, since I wanted to explore Glasgow further. It's my home city and a place I know well enough to feel confident about finding suitable locations and subject matter for the project. As I mentioned before, Glasgow is a city of great contrast, from areas of extreme urban deprivation to very upmarket shops and hotels. It has a vibrant business quarter and the riverside is finally being landscaped giving a modern, almost continental feel to the River Clyde which runs through the heart of the city.

The brief calls for a set of images suitable for an intelligent, thoughtful travel publication, so to my mind this means I should try to show the city at its best. I have opted to focus on important buildings and landmarks which a reader of say, The Sunday Times Travel magazine, would be recommended to see on a Citybreak. This approach means ommitting the rougher side of the city and its people, thereby ignoring concerning social issues but it would be interesting to reconsider the assignment from a different angle in the future.

Background reading has included Glasgow: City Beautiful by John McDermott and Glasgow by Colin Baxter. I have been looking at Flickr and am particulary impressed by the work of David Stanton and Anthony Brawley.

Several of my locations double up with Assignment 3 so I have asked my tutor for clarification as to using images showing different aspects of the same buildings. Other possible locations include:

• The City Chambers
• Merchant City
• Glasgow Catherdral and the Necropolis
• Prince's Square
• The West End and Ashton Lane
• Willow Tea Rooms
• George Square
• The Armadillo

Some of the people shots will probably need to be set up and I have contacted friends who will hopefully help with some pavement café and shopping images. There is still a lot of work to do on this assignment but I feel I am off to a positive start.