Before and After Coal

Milton Rogovin was a key exponent of documentary photography in the second half of the 20th century, documenting ordinary people and industrial labourers in the United States and South America early on in his career, before beginning a series in the 1980s centred around coal, travelling around the world to countries including Zimbabwe, China, Cuba and Scotland. The images the American photographer took of Scottish miners at work, at home and with their families, form the basis of this exhibition marking 40 years since the Scargill-led miners’ strike which, crushed by Margaret Thatcher, fundamentally changed the landscape of industry and trade unionism in Britain. At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Rogovin’s photos – tender, wistful, sometimes joyous – are paired with ‘updated’ works by Nicky Bird, who last year took photographs of similar subjects to Rogovin, in a display which bears witness to the stark decline of the Scottish mining industry (until 15 September).

Find out more from the National Galleries of Scotland’s website.

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Peter and Grandson (2023), showing former miner, Peter McCutcheon from Fife, with his grandson, in front of a banner displaying a photo by Milton Rogovin from 1982. © National Galleries of Scotland and the Miners’ Project participants, 2023

Family of Miners, Scotland (1982), Milton Rogovin. Courtesy National Galleries of Scotland; © Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona

Mineworkings (2023–24), Nicky Bird. © Nicky Bird

Donald Lamp Floor (2023), showing former miner, Donald Fulton from Muirkirk, East Ayrshire, with his lamp, in front of a banner displaying a photograph by Milton Rogovin from 1982. © National Galleries of Scotland and the Miners’ Project participants, 2023