The Fish That Never Swam

The Fish That Never Swam is a story of trauma - trauma on a large scale inflicted on a city by central and local government policy, felt by individuals, that in turn ripples through generations. Glasgow has the lowest life expectancy in western Europe, for men this lies at 7 years below the UK average. Research published in 2016 into Glasgow's Excess mortality pin point 3 main causes, all evoked by policy. Taking the research as my starting point I am traveling around the city photographing, interviewing and listening to a diverse group of people's lived experience. I am finding communities alienated from the rest of the city, people searching for meaning and purpose, stress and poverty that goes hand in hand, effecting mental and physical health, neighbourhoods sitting side by side with life expectancy discrepancies as great as 16 years.

Throughout the making of this work I am seeking to answer questions relating to my own experience. I was born and lived in Glasgow until my twenties. I lost my dad to Cancer at the age of 62. Was he one of the 5000 extra deaths that occur in Scotland each year?

This story remains untold and is only fully understood in academic fields. My aim is to get this information into the public realm. I'd like to see the blame shift from the individual to the legacy of political policy. Only then can we initiate a conversation about change.