The London-born photographer Joseph Mackenzie (1929-2015) became well known in Scotland for capturing urban images during times of great social change. He learned his craft in the RAF and was later appointed as Lecturer in Photography at Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. His work featured in major exhibitions back in the 1960s and I had the good fortune to encounter a large selection of his Dundee photos last year in the McManus Galleries. I didn't know he had also been commissioned by the Carnegie Trust in 1967 to chronicle the Auld Grey Toun of Dunfermline. Over a period of two years, Mackenzie shot over 400 images and some are currently on display at the Carnegie Museum. When I read about this temporary exhibition, it was the proverbial no brainer.
Mackenzie worked exclusively in monochrome and didn't record the names of his subjects. His images provide a vital snapshot into community life from an age now considered as bygone, although many of the accompanying social problems still sadly endure. The Dunfermline study provoked mixed feelings among the town council. While the skill involved was obvious, the raw honesty of the camerawork did not create a picture postcard view of the surroundings. I should imagine there was a great desire to move forward and embrace a brighter future. The passing of more than half a century permits us to view Mackenzie's gritty output with an more objective eye. The photos I saw today were receiving their first public showing since 1994. From boardroom scenes inside the City Chambers, to homeless men gathering under a railway viaduct, Mackenzie roamed around the town in 1968 - the year Dunfermline Athletic FC won the Scottish Cup for the second time. The last passenger train departed from the Upper Station and musical acts such as The Who, David Bowie, Cream and Deep Purple appeared at the Kinema Ballroom. Unsanitary living conditions for the working classes across Scotland were finally being swept away as local authority housebuilding programmes continued apace. The exhibition depicted townsfolk from all age groups and also covered some of the heavy industry still extant. The brickworks (below) and gasworks were still part of the local landscape. Nicole and I wandered around the display and I found it hard to obtain usable smartphone images for the website as the protective panes of glass in front of the original photographs reflected objects in the background. Technical issues aside, I found the exhibition a rewarding experience and learned new facts about the history of my adopted home town.
Mackenzie withdrew from public commissions in 1972 after a series of pictures relating to the troubles in Northern Ireland were officially censored. He vehemently disagreed with this move and reverted to building a private collection at home. In the 1980s, he photographed the Dundee district of Hawkhill as the final textile mills in the area were closing down. I had seen this body of work at the McManus Galleries, along with the council funded photo essay from 1966 that documented the construction of the Tay Road Bridge and the decimation of the city's railway infrastructure. Again, there is nothing romantic about Mackenzie's portrayals of what we now call the City of Discovery. Change is often necessary but a rapid transformation can lead to a sense of loss for those experiencing the aftermath. Of course we don't wish to live as our grandparents did, in the material sense. Just as they sought to distance themselves from the Victorian conditions their forebears endured. It's rather more difficult to place a monetary or statistical value on concepts such as social inclusion and mental wellbeing. Joseph Mackenzie's pictures are certainly thought provoking.
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