In the Eighties: Portraits from Another Time

‘It was the best of times it was the worst of times.’ Maligned, misunderstood and fetishized the 1980’s stands as the decade when post-modern life began in the west, and London was at the epicenter of this shift. An explosion of creativity took place against a backdrop of radical social change. London became a city of tribes. The vast youth culture categories of the preceding decades shattered into shards. It was the decade that sub-culture as a way of life reached it’s zenith before giving way to it’s inevitable scene surfing conclusion. Ridgers documented this cultural moment obsessively. Punks, post-punks, cyber-punks, gothic punks, mods, hard mods, Trojan skins, racist skins, ska, reggae, dub, early electronica, synth pop, acid house, happy hardcore, Blitz Kids, New Romantics, Hip-Hop, Rap, Electro, Break Beat, Techno, Rave – these were all sub-cultural spaces with scenes attached in London in the 1980’s. Unlike now, subcultures in the 1980’s were not casual playthings – they were a way of life for their participants. They inspired profound loyalty. They were a beautiful a doomed flowering of the hope for a better world. Derek Ridger’s exquisite street portrait photography has captured this creative decade beautifully.

Derek Ridgers is an English photographer with a career spanning forty years. He is best known for his photography of music, film and club/street culture - photographing everyone from James Brown to The Spice Girls, from Clint Eastwood to Johnny Depp. During his career, Ridgers has worked for many publications, including Time Out, The Sunday Telegraph, NME, The Face, Loaded, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Independent, GQ Style and Arena. His previous books include: Punk London 1977 (Carpet Bombing Culture), The Dark Carnival (Carpet Bombing Culture), Skinheads: 1979-1984 (Omnibus Press), 77-87 London Youth (Damiani).