Disappearing Glasgow

Chris Leslie’s photographic project Disappearing Glasgow is a thoughtful, long‑term visual investigation into the transformation of his home city—Glasgow—through the widespread demolition of high‑rise tower‑blocks and the erasure of post‑war urban housing estates. He began the project around 2008, documenting the process of demolition in Glasgow, particularly of estates such as Red Road Flats, and the shifting social, architectural and communal landscapes they embodied

At the heart of Leslie’s work is the idea of disappearance—not just of buildings, but of entire ways of living, communities, memories and urban forms. As Glasgow’s skyline changed, over 30% of its tower‑blocks were demolished. Leslie frames his photographs to reflect this: abandoned corridors, stripped interiors, tower blocks in mid‑deconstruction, and the ghosts of the lives that once filled them.

Leslie is not only photographing architecture: he centres people and communities that are affected by these shifts. As one commentary puts it, he “met an asylum seeker who was the sole occupant in a 30‑storey skyscraper” and “discovered a forgotten underground bingo‑hall”. These human details give depth to the photographs—they’re not just about structures but about the lives intertwined with them.

Leslie’s project joins a tradition of photographers documenting Glasgow’s changing built environment, linking to historical figures like Thomas Annan and Oscar Marzaroli.

The significance of Disappearing Glasgow is also evident in institutional recognition: works from the series have been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland, which underscores its value as both art and social document.

In Disappearing Glasgow, Chris Leslie offers more than just photographs of demolition‑sites. He gives us a layered, sensitive account of a city reinventing itself—at the expense of the past and its residents. The series invites us to consider what is gained by transformation, what is irretrievably lost, and how we remember a place that is physically—and socially—no longer there.