US photographer captures life at the coalface across Scotland as exhibition brings 1982 photographs up-to-date

The work of an American photographer who captured the lives of people working in Scotland’s coal industry in 1982 has gone on show – with a twist.

Milton Rogovin spent three weeks in mining communities across the central belt, photographing miners in the pits and relaxing at home with their families.

The black and white images are now on show at Kirkcaldy Galleries – 40 years on from the miners’ strike – alongside up-to-date photographs of some of the people he featured.

It’s the idea of artist Nicky Bird, who was captivated by one of Rogovin’s photographs at the National Galleries of Scotland.

She told STV News: “It really started with seeing Milton’s photograph of a man with his rather splendid onions in his back garden, and that raised all kinds of questions for me: ‘How did an American photographer arrange to come to Scotland in 1982?’

“I just became more and more drawn to his photographs of Scottish miners and communities.”

Nicky met with people from across Fife, East Ayrshire and the Lothians who had been involved in the coal industry, who shared their stories and reflections on Rogovin’s work.

Iain Chalmers, a former National Coal Board steam train driver from Fife, took Nicky to many of the locations visited by Rogovin.

Mr Chalmers said: “I think he (Rogovin) captured the social side of things, as everyone has this mental image of miners with the pick on one shoulder and a canary on the other and into the bowels of the earth.

“What he did is he photographed them in their working environment as well as he could, but he also captured them in the home scenario.”

Watty Watson, who started work as a miner in 1982 at the age of 16, was also involved in the project.

“To see our livelihood in the photographs so near to the miners’ strike happening, it says to me that it shouldn’t have gone that way,” he said.

“It was a livelihood, a way of life and Milton was able to photograph it prior to the strike happening and we all know what happened after the strike.”

‘Before and After Coal’ runs at Kirkcaldy Galleries until April 20.