THE scene of a packed train carriage with every passenger head down, scrolling through the device in their hand is very familiar for any commuter.

But for one photographer they are an inspiration and he has just opened his first exhibition of pictures of everyday urban life.

Stephen O’Neil says that on his regular journeys into Glasgow city centre he spotted something “beautiful” that became the focus of his new photography exhibition, G5, now showing at the Glad Cafe in the city.

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The collection of 13 prints showcase the “urban decay” of buildings within the G5 postcode of Tradeston.

He said: “These things can become a wallpaper that you never notice if you’re doing the same journey all the time, or sitting looking at your phone texting,” said Mr O’Neil, an artist living in Glasgow’s south side.

“When I’m on the train I sit and stare, and just imagine stuff. I realised all the images were from one street, or just a couple adjacent streets,” he said.

“It’s a very tight collection of images from these streets, and that was where the theme of the exhibition came from.”

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Using a “surreal sort of style” he greyed out and added blue overlays to the images which, despite showing decaying, graffitied buildings with smashed out windows, “don’t leave you feeling sad”, he said.

The images are a move away from his usual work featuring bold colour, and the muted style of these prints would suit anyone who likes the industrial decay look.

“It’s a nice depiction of these beautiful buildings, although there’s no people, there’s litter in the streets, I made sure that’s been captured,” he added.

“Every single one of them has got a ‘to let’ sign, or boarded up, or graffiti, but they’re all beautiful in their own right."

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The buildings, mainly located in Salkeld Street, are a mixture of old bars, factories, art deco structures and even a coach house from 1903.

Since the exhibition opened Mr O’Neil said the images have been well received.

“These old redundant buildings are semi-falling apart, but people are warming to them,” he said. “People have been recognising the buildings, but they can’t place where they are and then I say it’s on the train line they say, ‘of course!’”

While seeing the images have provoked others to look up and take notice, Mr O’Neil said.

“I had another person stop me in the street and say ‘I actually cycle down that street and when I’m cycling down I’m looking at all the buildings’,” he said.

The location for the exhibition also suits the theme of the images, with exposed ceilings and brick walls the Glad Cafe, in Pollokshaws Road, is “a real cultural hub of the south side of the city”, according to Mr O’Neil.

Originally from Edinburgh, Mr O’Neil graduated in Industrial Design from Napier University in 1999, which he said still influences his work today.

Working as a commercial artist out of his gallery next to the Glad Cafe, Mr O’Neil said this is the most Glasgow specific exhibition he has created and as a collection, or stand alone prints, “the images of work can become a piece of artwork in their own right”.

When asked what he thought the future should be for these buildings, which he said have been left in this state of disrepair for 20 years, he said they are just as important to Glasgow as the tenements.

He said: “They have to stay – they’re part of that industrial architecture of that area and that’s really important. It’s like the tenements, you can’t knock down the tenements or it won’t be Glasgow any more.”