AN exhibition by acclaimed photographer Elaine Livingstone is being staged to mark the 40th anniversary of a Glasgow institution.
Named after the Gandolfi brothers’ camera, Cafe Gandolfi was the city’s first-ever continental style cafe and kick-started the regeneration of the neighbourhood just east of the city centre, now known as Merchant City.
Owner Seumas MacInnes said: “Back then, the area was considered rundown and a no-go zone due to its many vacant warehouses, Barras style weekend market and collection of old men’s pubs.
“Merchant City is now one of the most coveted city centre residential neighbourhoods with an impressive collection of cafes, restaurants and late-night bars.”
The cafe’s legacy is being celebrated in a portrait exhibition by Livingstone in which long-standing customers and famous faces share their favourite Gandolfi story and explain what it means to them.
It includes snaps of Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh and actress Elaine C Smith and husband Bob Morton.
Also featured in the display is artist Gerard M Burns, who has painted regular clients in Gandolfi, and actor Libby McArthur, who worked in the kitchen when the cafe first opened in 1979.
Livingstone said the work had been a “huge honour.”
She added: “Gandolfi has a magical atmosphere about it, it’s a truly inspirational place.
“Café Gandolfi is all about its people and their love of the place, so we shot the staff and customers – my job was really to capture all that character.
“Many of the comments that we heard when shooting the exhibition was that Gandolfi is beautiful. It’s about food, family, familiarity, consistency, coming home. It’s unique.”
The exhibition will be displayed in the cafe until December 8.
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