1. Collecting Images:
   1. Typographic History:
   2. Photographic History of Clydebank:
   3. Personal Object Stories:
2. War and Peace of a Garden Exhibition:
3. Write a brief:
4. Chat with Gillian:
5. Finding the Stories:
6. First Contact:
7. Clydebank Industry:
   1. John Brown and Company Ltd.
   2. Singer Sewing Machine:
8. Making the Questionnaire:
   1. Reflection – 8th May 2026:

Week 7 has been an independent study week, and I’ve used this time to focus on finishing the first draft of my dissertation and planning.

Collecting Images:

Typographic History:

Even from old painted signs of businesses on the wall can tell the story of people, their lives, the times they lived, the state and style of Glasgow at the time.

Photographic History of Clydebank:

A collection of archival photography from Clydebank’s history, the main draw of these is the people of Clydebank.

Personal Object Stories:

Recently I have snapped my house key, it sits in my flat as a reminder but now I have a story, emotions and a time and story in my life of the time.

War and Peace of a Garden Exhibition:

My main focus with the ‘War and Peace of a Garden Exhibition’ was the character communicated through it, I felt a greater connection just through the amount of care and attention the display and layout of the objects. The ability to do so much in such a small amount of space.

Write a brief:

Chat with Gillian:

Finding the Stories:

The main hurdle I’m facing now is that I do not have the specific stories and objects to focus my work on. As Gillian advised, I need to find the story and the objects, and then all the work and set-up I’ve done can be put to good use.

This message was also stated by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert:

‘Just get out and do the work and it’ll all come eventually, you’ll find your way.”

Following good advice, my next step is to go out and find the stories. My only concern is that people spend a lot of time trying to find what they consider the ‘best story’. I don’t have years to search, so I’ve contacted the people who might know, on the off chance they can point me in the right direction. I have emailed:

• The Clydebank Post
• The Clydebank Post Photography Club
• Clydebank Museum and Local History & Archives
• Hub Singer Camera Club

I need to revisit the idea of crowd-sourcing these stories and objects, be that online or by making posters and then posting them around Glasgow, Clydebank, and more of West Dunbartonshire. As well as physical posters I think it will be useful to utilise the community of local groups online and in social media, after a conversation with Lil and her suggestion of the app Nextdoor and putting posts on asking for objects and inputs, or doing the same on Facebook Marketplace and asking for stories for the objects they’re selling.

First Contact:

After sending out a number of emails, I received a reply from Rab Taylor of the Hub Singer Camera Club, who let me know that his father, Robert G Taylor, was an avid photographer and that he had scanned his father’s photography from the 50’s and 60’s.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotwars/albums/72157626892467809/with/5857843115

Robert G Taylor:

Above is a few of the photos I’ve selected from the archive that Rab has supplied, personally these photos appealed to me the most, either for his portrait photgraphy work or even just the snap shot into the lives of life at that time.

I know these locations and streets so well, but they are also so different and alien to me, seen in this era.

I’ve emailed Rab to ask more about his father, his photography, whether there are any objects that remind him of his father, and whether he would mind that his father and the photography be included in my piece.

Clydebank Industry:

When thinking about making a poster to ask people for stories and objects, I thought that looking at two of Clydebank’s biggest historical businesses would inform my use of font and style to reflect that time.

John Brown and Company Ltd.

Singer Sewing Machine:

Making the Questionnaire:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1950KIxeIo0919NlAQ9BsuvcX7xjPL8Cyq3GrrmLmLtc/edit

At the moment, the questionnaire isn’t live because it asks for people’s names and contact information, so an ethics form must be completed.

I’m also working on posters and posts for the online communities on social media to ask for their input.

Reflection – 8th May 2026:

Before handing in, I want to look back at the whole project and reflect on each step of the process now with the hindsight that I have at the hand in date:

Looking back at weeks 7 & 8, I can see myself leaning more towards photography and the history of the places I grew up in, namely Clydebank and Dumbarton. Looking back after knowing that focus was on Robert Trotter later in the project, who grew up in Dumbarton, the direction I took feels clearer and more obvious, even though at this point in my project, I had no solid idea and was trusting the creative process.