Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's on
  • Art & Artists
    • The Collection
      Artists
      Artworks
      Art by theme
      Media
      Videos
      Podcasts
      Short articles
      Learning
      Schools
      Art Terms
      Tate Research
      Art Making
      Create like an artist
      Kids art activities
      Tate Draw game
  • Visit
  • Shop
Become a Member
  • DISCOVER ART
  • ARTISTS A-Z
  • ARTWORK SEARCH
  • ART BY THEME
  • VIDEOS
  • ART TERMS
  • SCHOOLS
  • TATE KIDS
  • RESEARCH
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • FAMILIES
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SCHOOLS
  • PRIVATE TOURS
Tate Logo
Become a Member
Free Tate Modern Talk

Queer Time and Space: Photographing Nightclubs with Derek Ridgers and Yasmine Akim

17 May 2025 at 16.30–17.30

Mark Vaultier, Taboo, 1986 © Derek Ridgers c/o Unravel Productions

Join Derek Ridgers and Yasmine Akim for a talk with Jess Baxter, Assistant Curator of the Leigh Bowery! exhibition

As part of Offprint weekend, Derek Ridgers sits down with Yasmine Akim to talk about what it’s like behind the camera on the dancefloors of queer parties, clubs and raves across generations.

Ridgers was a frequent photographer at Leigh Bowery’s notorious club Taboo, where performers, artists and drag queens alike would come together and escape the outside world. Photographer Yasmine Akim builds on this legacy of club photography through her work documenting the parties and performances at INFERNO, the techno rave that champions trans, non-binary and queer DJs and artists.

This talk will be a rare opportunity to hear from two generations of photographers dedicated to archiving boundary-pushing performance and queer communal joy. No ticket needed, just turn up.

Derek Ridgers

Derek Ridgers is one of London’s most influential club and street photographers. Ridgers originally trained as a graphic designer and worked in advertising for over a decade before taking up photography. Ridgers worked for the iconic British magazine The Face and the music weekly NME. A founder of the straight-up style of photography, his observational approach enabled him to capture skinheads, punks, New Romantics, Goths and other hybrid styles. Ridgers’s work has been exhibited internationally since the seventies. Recently he published the monograph THE LONDON YOUTH PORTRAITS (ACC Art Books 2024). 

Yasmine Akim

Yasmine Akim is a photographer, writer and arts educator, born and based in London. Her practice spans portraiture, documentary and socially engaged art, exploring themes of race, queerness, mental health and empowerment. Notable projects include her feminist photo zine Vagina Dentata, exhibited at Ditto Press and The Horse Hospital, and a self-portrait series for Montez Press’s Interjection Calendar. She participated in the I Extend My Arms residency at Art House Jersey, which culminated in an exhibition inspired by Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. 

Tate Modern's entrance is via the Turbine Hall on Holland Street. There are automatic sliding doors and a ramp down to the entrance.

The Exhibition is on Level 3 of the Natalie Bell Building. There are lifts to every floor of the Blavatnik and Natalie Bell buildings. Alternatively you can take the stairs.

  • Fully accessible toilets are located on every floor on the concourses.
  • A quiet room is available to use in the Natalie Bell Building on Level 4.
  • Ear defenders can be borrowed from the Ticket desks.

For more information before your visit:

  • Email hello@tate.org.uk
  • Call +44 (0)20 7887 8888 – option 1 (daily 10.00–17.00)

Check all Tate Modern accessibility information

Tate Modern

McAulay Studio

Bankside
London SE1 9TG
Plan your visit

Date & Time

17 May 2025 at 16.30–17.30

Content guidance: The presentations may include photographs that include nudity, sexual content and/or depicting bodily functions

Related events

Left Right
  • Festival

    Offprint London 2025

    Discover independent publishers in arts, architecture, design, humanities, and visual culture

    Tate Modern
    16 May 2025, 17 May 2025, 18 May 2025
  • Exhibition

    Leigh Bowery!

    A celebration of the boundary-pushing career of artist Leigh Bowery

    Tate Modern
    Until 31 Aug 2025
  • Access

    Relaxed Hours: Leigh Bowery!

    See a celebration of the boundary-pushing career of artist Leigh Bowery at a quieter time

    Tate Modern
    Third Tuesday of the month at 10.00–11.00
Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved