IMAGES captured of a working class community in south Belfast more than 40 years ago have been unveiled in a new book.
In 1974, Bill Kirk set out to make a record of Sandy Row, a staunchly loyalist area and one of oldest communities in the city.
From activity in a local laundrette to a child being bathed in the living-room and parades through the streets in the area, the black and white images capture life in Sandy Row, not far from Belfast city centre.
Other pictures show the families who grew up in the rows of terraced houses around Sandy Row, traditionally a close-knit Protestant community, while others capture the working life of the once bustling streets.
Mr Kirk's work came at a time when the area was due to be redeveloped in an attempt to "clear the area of its Dickensian, slum dwellings and provide for a healthier environment for the residents".
The Sandy Row Community Forum, which hosted an event on Friday to launch the book in partnership with the Belfast Archive Project, described Mr Kirk's work as an "ambitious project".
It said it captured real life images of the area during the 1970s and has provided a unique visual documentation of a working-class community on the "cusp of major changes".
It also provided a snapshot of the life in Sandy Row for residents and future generations to see.
His images, which were previously on view in an exhibition, have now been re-produced in a book called 'Sandy Row', with a foreword in the book by world renowned photographer, Gilles Peress.
