Looking back with Ian Scott on the importance of photography in recording Falkirk district's past

My thanks to Bob Black and his colleagues for their hospitality. Much of our conversation touched on the role of local photographers as a major source of material for historians of the town and district. Over their century and more of existence members of the Camera Club have provided a huge number of images which help tell the Falkirk story in a way that words alone cannot.

From the late Victorian period we can see the way the old towns and villages have changed and how the people dressed, worked and transported their goods and themselves from place to place. Lost buildings like the old town halls of Falkirk, Denny, Bonnybridge and Grangemouth are recorded for all time along with churches, schools, foundries, factories, shops and tramcars which people remember and love to see again. Surviving buildings are often much changed with long defunct banks housing bookmakers and ex-churches serving as pubs or funeral homes. Seeing them in their original form tells us a lot about the way society has evolved during our lifetime. For some years I and my colleagues have given a talk called ‘Gone but not forgotten’ to clubs and societies all over the district and it is clear from the reaction that the old images mean a great deal to folk, especially those of a certain age.

At the beginning of the 20th century there were dozens of professional photographers in Falkirk district and they produced tens of thousands of images, many of which were mass printed as postcards which were the text messages and emails of their day. The Falkirk archives in Callendar House have amassed over 50,000 photographs which chronicle the life and times of the generations before ours. Many of these old black and white images were specially hand coloured (mainly in Germany until 1914!) and these are especially attractive although they often show a bright gleaming Falkirk which may be at odds with the reality of a less than pristine foundry town.

But spare a thought for today’s younger generation and all those who follow? When they reach the stage of looking back will there be an archive of images to remind them of their own past and chart the changes in their lifetimes? With the advent of the sophisticated digital camera phones we certainly have plenty of images but what exactly are people snapping, and will the pictures survive in a form that will serve as a record? ‘Selfies’ in front of the steeple or the Wellington statue certainly tell us about the current obsession but not much more and today’s professional photographers have fewer outlets for pictures of buildings and streets than their Edwardian counterparts.

At one time Falkirk Council was very conscientious in photographing foundries and factories in the days before they closed, and churches, schools and other public buildings were included in the job description of the official photographer. I’m not sure if this is still the case but I certainly think it should. We need to record things as they are today good, bad or indifferent. I’m not sure how this can be achieved but if we fail to act then our grandchildren will be the losers and the Falkirk district of the present day may well be “Gone and long forgotten”.