In the 1980s Liverpool became the focus for a number of influential
photographers. Martin Parr and Tom Wood both lived in Merseyside during
the 1980s and photographed the city extensively. Parr created his
acclaimed series The Last Resort 1983-6 in the faded seaside
town of New Brighton. However, the works shown here by Parr include
never-before seen views of Liverpool. They depict the city in decline,
but also possessing a character of defiance embodied in its people.
Martin Parr
England, Liverpool 1983-1986
© Martin Parr/Magnum Photos
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Tom Wood
Stanley Road, Bootle 1989
© Tom Wood
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Tom Wood for many years focused almost exclusively on Liverpool and
Merseyside in his work, as in the two featured series here. The first
series, taken at the Chelsea Reach nightclub in New Brighton offers
an affectionate portrait of the exuberance of local youth, while the
second series presents images taken on Liverpool buses, rich with
pathos and inflected with the hopes and desires of Wood’s fellow passengers.
Tom Wood
Pink Lipstick 1982-86
© Tom Wood
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Dr Vanley Burke
Society's Problem Punkband - with Bullet Belt and Union Jack T-Shirt
c.1980
© Dr Vanley Burke
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Birmingham-based photographer Vanley Burke regularly visited the
black community in Liverpool. The images he produced show a city that
had not changed significantly since the war, in much need of investment,
and in many ways ostracised from the wider country as well as being
divided within itself, problems that culminated in the media-dubbed
‘Toxteth Riots’ of 1981. Burke captures a city of grafitti, one where
jumble sales take place on old bomb sites and a dog chews on a brick,
yet also a city where the spirit of community shines through in street
festivals.
Dr Vanley Burke
Toxteth, not Croxteth c.1980
© Dr Vanley Burke
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