This one was different.  It felt different. 

 I couldn’t put my finger on it.  Maybe it was the larger police presence.  Maybe it was the obvious steel barrier erected to make a substantial “No man’s land” in front of the uninterested stone lions in George Square in Glasgow. 

State media, as well as social media had informed its followers that today there would be a sizeable contingent of ultra right wing, anti-immigrant, and a small group of factionalised anti-Scottish government protesters present. 

 The initial reasoning behind this influx of antagonistic residue from earlier riots some weeks ago are well documented by Cameron Scott, in his excellent article here in the website.     

    As a keen amateur photographer, I have moved a lot of my attention to street photography and the documentary side of said genre, and as such the moving between groups of people felt initially quite comfortable.  To begin with I mingled among the ever growing group of seemingly cheerfully angry, sociable, disenfranchised, mixed ethnic and peaceful people who were mainly there to protest against the war on Gaza.

As crowds on both sides of the barriers grew in numbers, and the megaphones and speakers got louder, I moved with a number of other photographers around to the darker and more intimidating side of the square.   It was not long before I realised the documentation of the human behaviour on this side of the tracks would be a bit more unforthcoming.  

 I have to say off the bat that we are lucky (relatively speaking) that we are allowed to voice our opinions, but here among the politically (far) right group, I felt strongly that their voices were definitely not to be documented.   

One group I photographed verbally intoned that they would shove my camera up my ass.  The fact that today I had my full-frame camera which is more akin to an anvil with a lens attached made this a not too inviting prospect.

 Another group, the mask wearing, all in black contingent I tried to get a collective shot of, soon surrounded me physically with a nod to clear the “F” out. 

 Not one not to take a hint, I promptly moved back over to the other side among some warm beautiful people that only seemed to have the safety of innocent people on their radar. 

 I did eventually get some rewarding photos which I leave you with.   

 I’ll let you all figure out which photos came from which side..  

Be bold but be careful. 

07-09-2024  Glasgow

I am an amateur photographer based North of Glasgow, Scotland. Into all things outdoors, from rivers to mountains. I enjoy all genre’s of photography, although Street Photography is my go to day out with my M43 cameras. Mainly Lumix and Leica are my tools of choice. Stevi Jackson