mono68

One city, One month, One camera

Photographs by Phil Thomson, Dundee, November 1968

Lamb Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee

17 January - 21 March 2015

Mon-Fri 09.30-20.30 Sat 09.30-16.30

The 2015 exhibition programme at the University of Dundee’s Lamb Gallery opens with a striking exhibition of black and white photographs taken in Dundee in 1968.

The photos were all taken in one month by artist Phil Thomson whilst a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.

Phil is now a design lecturer at Birmingham City University. He explains: “The images are a snapshot of Dundee and its inhabitants, in transition from the post-war austerity years to the brave new world of flyovers, shopping centres and tower-blocks. I was aiming to capture the social and urban characteristics of the period – a pronounced gender divide in the workplace, the street as playground, graffiti as an emerging means of expressing identity, personal transactions rather than digital interactions and the nature of inner-city transport. They give a distinct feeling of a lost world, almost a sense of lost innocence.”

Phil decided to re-examine the photographs in 2014, and thanks to social media has been trying to track down information about the people and places he captured. Visit the mono68 Facebook page to see some of the images.

Special Events

Friday 16 January, 5.30pm

Phil will be giving a free talk about the work, which will take place in the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre in the Tower Building. Everyone is welcome and there is no need to book.

Friday 6 March, 6pm

Photography and Memory – a series of short talks followed by a discussion exploring the role of photography in capturing Dundee and other cities, and how our memories and our ideas about architecture are shaped by photographic images. Introduced by Caroline Brown with talks by Norman Watson, Neil Verow and Phil Thomson. Everyone is welcome and there is no need to book - meet in the Lamb Gallery.

Monday 16 March, 5.30pm

The changing face of urban planning in Dundee- further short talks and discussion exploring how planning has changed in Dundee and other cities over the years. Why was so much of the city demolished and are we more sympathetic towards conservation of the built environment today? Featuring talks from Jack Searle, Barbara Illsley, Deborah Peel and Gordon Birrell. Meet in the Lamb Gallery. Places are limited so please book via Eventbrite.

Publication

A 16-page publication accompanies the exhibition and is available to buy for £5 from the University's Online Shop.