Our new exhibition opens at Tramway: Stories from our Streets
Stories from our Streets exhibition opens at Greater Govanhill’s Community Space at Tramway. The heritage exhibition features videos and an interactive map but at its heart is the photographic project capturing the diversity of the neighbourhood, One Day in Govanhill.
Visitors attending exhibition launch view One Day in Govanhill
Photos by Karen Gordon
New heritage exhibition, Stories from our Streets, opens at Tramway. The collaborative work features photography and video projects exploring the living heritage of our neighbourhood. It also includes an interactive map inviting visitors to share their own stories.
But at its heart is One Day in Govanhill, a photographic project from the Greater Govanhill Photography Group. The idea was simple: capture a single, ordinary day from start to finish.
Featured photographers: (left) Syeda Sadaf Anwar, (centre) Rob Reid and (right) John Bowden at the exhibition launch
Seventeen local photographers, each with one roll of film and just one hour, used analogue cameras to document fleeting, everyday moments. The result is an honest, powerful portrait of the neighbourhood – a day in the life that tells a bigger story.
Speaking on the day the photos were taken, 6 October last year, Picture Desk Editor Iain McLellan, said he was astonished by the range of diverse talent among participants, and while it was a long day, it’s one he wouldn’t have missed.
Picture Desk Editor Iain McLellan at Stories from Our Streets exhibition launch
Also reflecting on the day, Deputy Picture Desk Editor, Laura Vroomen, said there was a “great feeling of camaraderie in the Newsroom. As each of the snappers popped in to collect or drop off their film and to share stories and occasionally free food given to them by the shopkeepers they photographed. The sense of adventure and shared purpose was palpable.”
Deputy Picture Desk Editor, Laura Vroomen (centre right) at the launch on Saturday
Alongside the photographs, the exhibition features short films created by local residents who took part in our storytelling workshops. These films bring personal stories to the foreground – stories of place, memory, belonging, and change.
On the exhibition’s opening day, participant and Greater Govanhill journalist, Samar Jamal said: “I had seen glimpses of the photographs before they were printed as canvases for the space but I was still so struck seeing them on the day. There are so many emotions captured in each image – moments of sombreness, joy, stillness – all reflecting the richness of life.”
Visitors view the interactive map
The exhibition also features a large map of Greater Govanhill and invites you to share your own stories – of love, loss, joy and transformation, helping to build a living library of local stories.
In a fast-changing world, where reality can sometimes feel like it’s slipping away, preserving everyday life – the ordinary as well as the extraordinary – feels important. Through this exhibition, we aim to honour Govanhill’s past, reflect its present, and create space to imagine its future.
Stories from Our Streets is available to view until late summer, at the upstairs Community Canvas space in Tramway, 25 Albert Drive. Open Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm.
Greater Govanhill CIC is a grassroots non-profit media organisation dedicated to making a positive change. This exhibition was made possible with the support of funding from the Glasgow City Heritage Trust with developing and scanning done by Gulabi film lab with additional support from Tramway.