A remarkable collection of photographs capturing life in Edinburgh's public housing schemes during the turbulent 1980s has gained widespread attention, offering an intimate glimpse into the Scottish capital during one of its most challenging decades. Graham Macindoe, a Broxburn-born photographer who now calls New York home, documented the everyday reality of life in Edinburgh's working-class neighborhoods as a young punk rocker armed with nothing more than his camera and determination to tell untold stories.

The compelling photographic archive reveals the stark realities of life during the height of Margaret Thatcher's era, when unemployment soared and economic deprivation plagued Scotland's poorest communities. Macindoe's lens captured lengthy unemployment lines, student protesters marching against education cuts, and intimate portraits of families living in deteriorating council estates that had once represented hope for better housing. His images show scenes from areas including Wester Hailes, Portobello, Gorgie, and other Edinburgh neighborhoods where ordinary people struggled to make ends meet during a period of significant social and economic upheaval.

Despite the challenging circumstances of the time, Macindoe's photographs also reveal moments of joy and resilience that persisted amid the economic uncertainty. Children continued to play and laugh in the streets, families still gathered for meals at local chip shops where a fish supper cost just £1.40, and sunny days brought crowds to Portobello Beach. The photographer wasn't afraid to get close to his subjects, creating an authentic and unvarnished portrait of community life that many might have overlooked or ignored.

The collection includes striking images of daily life: children playing with homemade carts on Portobello Promenade, families walking past the Golden Sands Amusement arcade, young people outside Miele's chip shop on Ferry Road Drive, and customers waiting inside the Central fish bar in 1986. One particularly poignant photograph shows Edinburgh College of Art students protesting against education cuts outside the Royal Scottish Academy on Princes Street in 1984, while another captures the derelict tenements on Comely Green Place that symbolized urban decay of the era.

Macindoe's work also documents the changing face of Edinburgh's entertainment landscape, including an image of the former New Tivoli cinema on Gorgie Road, which had opened in 1934 to replace an earlier theater on the same site. By the time of his photograph, the cinema had closed in 1973 and was operating as a bingo hall, reflecting the shifting cultural preferences and economic realities of the community. The building now serves as a Destiny Church, marking yet another transformation in the neighborhood's evolution.

In recent years, Macindoe has gained a substantial following through social media platforms, particularly after sharing his vintage Edinburgh photographs on popular Facebook groups like Lost Edinburgh. His work has resonated with thousands of people who either lived through that era or are fascinated by the city's social history. The photographer, who has gone on to photograph celebrities including Anthony Bourdain and Michael Jackson, reflected on his early work in 2020, saying he hadn't initially considered himself a photographer but rather "just someone with a camera who took pictures."

"I'd sort of forgotten about all these," Macindoe explained about rediscovering his 1980s Edinburgh photographs. "Nobody knew at that point there would be the internet and the ability to share on multiple types of platforms for all sorts of people to comment and engage with." His collection serves as both a historical document and artistic achievement, preserving a crucial period in Edinburgh's development when the city was grappling with industrial decline, social change, and the policies of Conservative government that profoundly impacted working-class communities across Scotland.