George Square's monuments like you've never seen them before.
There are moments in photography when I’m reminded how fortunate I am to be standing where I am, camera in hand. Places that are usually glimpsed only from a distance. Processes that happen quietly, out of sight. Access that’s granted not as a given, but as a mark of trust. Working on the George Square statues project has been one of those moments.
As a commercial and architectural photographer, I’m often asked to document finished spaces – the polished, public-facing results. And sometimes I’m invited behind the scenes, into the spaces where history is carefully handled, repaired and prepared for the future. To be given that level of access – from crane lifts in the middle of Glasgow to conservation workshops hundreds of miles away – is both a privilege and a responsibility I don’t take lightly.
These statues are more than objects: they’re part of Glasgow’s shared memory. They’ve watched over protests and celebrations, quiet mornings and crowded nights. Generations have passed beneath them without giving much thought to the work required to keep them standing. Being able to photograph their journey – from removal, to restoration, and eventually back to the Square – feels like being trusted with a small but meaningful part of that story.
What makes this project especially significant is the knowledge that the images won’t just live online for a few days or weeks. They’ll become part of a lasting visual record – a national archive documenting how Glasgow City Council cares for our heritage. Long after the scaffolding has come down and the statues are returned to their plinths, these photographs will remain, showing how and why the work was done, and the people who quietly ensured it was done properly.
There’s something humbling about photographing conservation work. It’s slow, precise, and deeply respectful of the past. In workshops and on scaffolding high above George Square, the focus is never on spectacle – it’s on craft, patience and care. My role is simply to observe, to translate that care into images that feel honest and considered, and to do so without getting in the way.
I’m acutely aware that many of the views I’ve been able to capture such as statues at eye level for the first time in decades, or details normally hidden from public view, will never be seen like this again. That sense of “once only” access brings with it a quiet pressure to get it right.
Ultimately, projects like this are a reminder of why I do what I do. Not just to make images, but to help preserve stories. To contribute, in my own way, to how a city remembers itself and how it will be remembered in the years to come.
Below is some video footage shot in George Square during the removal of the statues in May 25, and at the studios of Rupert Harris Conservation who are bringing the statues back to life in advance of their reinstatement later this year. And for more info and images see our Story Behind the projects pages at: Conservation and Restoration.