Margaret Mitchell: Six Works

Margaret Mitchell was born in Stirling and grew up in Plean and Dunblane within a large working-class family. Her sister Andrea’s children grew up in the Raploch in Stirling and Mitchell documented their lives across three bodies of work from childhood to adulthood.

This series of six works, acquired by the University’s Art Collection in 2023, focus on Mitchell's nephew Steven, offering an insight into his life’s trajectory. These images follow Steven from a childhood in the Raploch (Family 1994) to his adult life in St Ninians (In This Place 2015-2017), to an image of him back in his childhood locale (Into Absence 2017-2020), visiting a sister who was staying in temporary accommodation on the same street the children had grown up on.

Across the three bodies of work, Mitchell reflects on both personal and political questions, asking the viewer to consider the nature of disadvantage and privilege in a history covering class, opportunity and inequality. For Mitchell, the personal narrative of Steven’s path in life reflects a universal issue; whilst this is a personal journey of one boy into man, versions of this story and situation are repeated across countless individuals and societies.

“I want the viewer to ask themselves a question about how society operates, how choice is related to opportunity and environment. To see that sometimes people choose what they do because really, not much has been offered in the first place.”

About Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell is a Scottish documentary photographer based in Glasgow. She was born in Stirling and studied at Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art. Work ranges from exploring communities and children’s worlds to projects on the individual and society. Bridging psychological landscapes and social concerns, her imagery explores the intricacies and complexities of people’s lives with a particular emphasis on place and belonging. Margaret's work has been exhibited widely and she is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. A book of her work Passage was published in 2021. Visit Margaret's website.

About Human Experience

Each academic year, all of the Art Collection’s exhibitions, events and workshops are directly inspired by one of the University research themes.  In 2024-25 our chosen focus Human Experience will examine topics such as displacement, climate change, social deprivation and covid-19, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit and our ability to continue to create art through and about troubling times.

For details of outreach events being run alongside this theme and further information look on our what’s on page.

The Pathfoot Gallery is free to visit and open to all. See our further information about access and getting here.