Regression

Colour photograph of a dark, blurred figure crossing the junction of west George Lane and Blythswood Street in Glasgow. Three workmen in orange hi vis are visible between the buildings in the background.
Colour photograph of the blurred figure of a person carrying a yellow bag while crossing Sauchiehall Lane in Glasgow
A colour photograph of several people crossing the junction of West George Lane and West Campbell Street in Glasgow
Colour photograph of two blurred, silhouetted figures at the junction of West Regent Lane and Hope Street in Glasgow.
A colour photograph of several people crossing the junction of Renfrew Lane and and Hope Street in Glasgow while vehicles move past in the mid ground. The Savoy Centre shopping centre is visible in the background.
Colour photograph of a couple holding hands while crossing Renfield Street at its junction with Renfrew Lane in Glasgow while a van speeds past.
Colour photograph of a Persia walking past the end of West George Lane at Renfield Street in Glasgow. Blue tipped bins are in the foreground and a blue direction sign is visible in the background.
A dark, blurred figure crosses West George lane at the junction with Hope Street in Glasgow.
Colour photograph of a blurred figure crossing West George Lane at the junction with Renfield street in Glasgow while a bus speeds by. A blond sandstone building is in the background.
Colour photograph of blurred figures crossing Saint Vincent Lane at the junction with Hope Street in Glasgow while a bus speeds by. A red sandstone building is in the background. Yellow painted lines in the foreground lead to the people and bus.
Colour photograph of blurred figures crossing Saint Vincent Lane at the junction with Hope Street in Glasgow while a red car speeds by. A blond and red sandstone building is in the background. A large number 5 is painted on the road in the foreground
Colour photograph of a blurred figure of a person crossing Renfield Lane at the junction with Hope Street in Glasgow while a blue truck speeds by. A blond and red sandstone building is in the background. Yellow painted lines in the foreground lead to
Colour photograph of a blurred figures of people crossing Waterloo Lane at the junction with Bothwell Street in Glasgow. An ornate blond sandstone building is in the background while a large amount of rubbish is piled up around bins in the foregroun
Colour photograph of a blurred figure of a person crossing Waterlood Lane at the junction with Waterloo Street in Glasgow while a blurred cyclist enters the lane. A red sandstone building with a green shop front on the ground floor is in the backgrou
Colour photograph of a blurred figures of people crossing Wellington Lane at the junction with Wellington Street in Glasgow with a blue and white van in the back ground. Yellow painted lines in the foreground lead to the person and lorry.
Colour photograph of a blurred figure of a person crossing the end of lane off Renfield Street in Glasgow with a white van and office building in the background.The foreground shows several bins and rubbish and food waste piled top around them in the
Colour photograph of a blurred figures of people crossing Gordon Street in Glasgow as seen from Union Place with red and white barriers and retail premises in the background. The foreground shows a discarded trolley and other rubbish discarded in the
Colour photograph of a blurred figure of a person crossing the end of Stock Exchange Court at its junction with West Nile Street in Glasgow with a white van speeding past. Painted double yellow lines in the foreground lead to the moving person and va
Colour photograph of a blurred figure crossing the junction of National Bank Lane and Saint Vincent Street in Glasgow while a fire engine speeds past. Another blurred figure can be seen in the background behind a rainbow-painted bike shelter.
Colour photograph of the blurred figuers of two people waling past the end of Royal Exchange Court on Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow. A blue direct sign and the sandstone southern wall of Saint George's Tron Church is visible in the background.
The blurred figure of several people on Buchanan Street moving past the end of Mitchell Lane in Glasgow. Shop fronts and signage are visible in the background and reflected in the windows on Mitchell Lane.
The blurred figures of several people moving along Buchanan Street as viewed from North Court Lane in Glasgow. Painted double yellow lines lead to the people and Buchanan Street in the centre of the image with several shop fronts visible in the backg
The blurred figures of several people moving along Buchanan Street in Glasgow viewed from a side lane. Several shop fronts are visible in the background.
The blurred figures of several people moving along Buchanan Street in Glasgow as viewed from a side lane. Shop fronts are visible in the background.
The blurred figures of several people moving along Buchanan Street as viewed from Morrisons Court in Glasgow. A line of large red painted bins leads to the people and Buchanan Street in the centre of the image with several shop fronts visible in the
The blurred figures of people and vehicles moving along Argyle Street in Glasgow as viewed from the arched side lane leading to Sloane's pub/venue.
A colour photograph of two figures walking into Anchor Lane from West George Street in Glasgow. The glass wall of Queen Street station is in the background with a further blurred figure visible sitting at a bus stop.
A colour photograph of the blurred figures of several people walking across the junction of Saint Vincent Place and Anchor Lane in Glasgow. while a bus speeds past behind them. Bins and beer kegs are visible in the foreground.
The blurred figure of a person crossing the junction of Royal Exchange Place and Queen Street in glasgow while a blue bus passes by behind them. A modern commercial building is visible in the background.
Colour photograph of the blurred figures of two darkly clothed people walking past the junction of Virginia Court of Miller Street in Glasgow. Commercial buildings and graffiti are visible in the background with a stone path leading to the people in
The dark blurred figure of a person crossing the junction of Virginia Place and Ingram Street in Glasgow while a dark colour car speeds past behind them. An ornate band sandstone building with a 'Boss' shop front makes up the background.
Colour photograph of the blurred figures of two people walking into Virginia Street through the archway at the end of Virginia Court in Glasgow. The blurred figures a third person is at the extreme right of the lower side of the image.
The blurred figures of a person the junction of Stockwell Street and Goosedubs in Glasgow while a white car moves past behind them. Painted double yellow lines lead to the person and car in the centre of the image with brick-built commercial building
Colour photograph of the blurred figures of people visible through the archway at the end of Old Wynd at its junction with Trongate in Glasgow. A commercial, brick-built, building is visible behind.
Colour photograph of the blurred figures of people walking at the junction of New Wynd and Trongate in Glasgow while a bus speeds past. A commercial, brick-built, building is visible behind.
Colour photograph of the blurred figures of people walking past the end of lane at 103 Trongate in Glasgow while a bus speeds past. A commercial, brick-built, building is visible behind.

Regression

Regression is a series of photographs made in the lanes of Glasgow city centre that evokes the increasing isolation and marginalisation felt by transgender people in today’s society.

The dark lanes, surrounded by tall buildings and the blurred, anonymous and often threatening  figures represent the isolation, fear and apprehension increasingly experienced by transgender people as we are forced to regress into the margins of public life and society.

The distance between the camera and the anonymous figures of people going about their daily lives in public inverts the convention that documentary and street photography should be up close. Transgender people must be increasingly wary as society becomes increasingly hostile towards them.

The grid presentation and broadly geographical sequence of this work is inspired by the grid pattern of the streets of Glasgow city centre.

On 16 April 2025 the UK Supreme Court ruled that transgender people with gender recognition certificates “will still be treated as their sex assigned at birth in various areas of public life”. This resulted in transgender rights regressing to where they were prior to Gender Recognition Act 2004.

As a result the UK dropped from 16th to 22nd place in the annual ranking of LGBTQ+ rights of 49 European countries by ILGA-Europe (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Europe). The UK has regressed from 1st to 22nd place since 2015.

The Supreme Court ruling and the resulting ‘interim guidance’ from the Equality and Human Rights Commission led to an immediate increase in discrimination against transgender people by organisations and individuals.

The message being received is that transgender people are no longer welcome in public life in the UK.

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Between The Drains and The Plastic Ocean