DEREK RIDGERS’S BOOK – ’78-87 LONDON YOUTH’

For those that aren’t familiar with his name Derek Ridgers’s is one of the greatest cultural documentarians of recent history. So it is a mark of pride that Roundel has been able to coproduce a book of Derek’s unseen photos alongside Rupert Smyth Studio.

A great deal of care and consideration has gone into the making of the book. The introduction is written by John Maybury who himself was a mainstay of the times the book documents.The book features faces that have gone on to become household names alongside those that have not yet found their place in the pantheon of popular culture. Derek’s approach was ambivalent to fame and more interested in capturing genuine personalities rather than people seeking their 15 minutes.

The London of the book is a place where social norms and boundaries are being challenged; manifesting itself in a fantastic visual array of outfits and makeup. From The Blitz club to the King’s Road there’s a gamut of locations and scenes.

http://www.roundel-london.com/accessories/117-derek-ridgerss-book-78-87-london-youth.html

The man who photographed Britain's youth tribes

Photographer Derek Ridgers' book, 78-87: London Youth, captures some of the capital’s most vibrant subcultures. Theo Merz meets him

“I’ve always been the kind of photographer who’s on the outside, looking in,” he tells me as we sit in a London cafe flicking through 78-87: London Youth, a collection of his work which will be published this week. “It’s a historical document. I’m not going to make any big claims about the time - I recorded how they lived and how they dressed and maybe I lived a little bit vicariously through it.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10605295/The-man-who-photographed-Britains-youth-tribes.html