Blast from the past as some of the subjects of my pics turn up for the private view at Turner Contemporary. A mix of (former) punks and skinheads from the Margate area. Oh, and a goth. Some had been part of more than one subculture, including rockabilly.
This is Tracey, taken circa 1981 and 2011. Part of my Cachet show in Nothing in the World But Youth at Turner Contemporary 9/2011-1/2012
All the young skins…
Young skinhead, mod/rude boys in Turner Contemporary, Margate, showing off their Harrington jackets. An older skinhead looks on in the background. © Iain Aitch
poster for my residency in Margate. Tour dates! I should have had a T-shirt made.
Me as as suede, aged 11, shortly before having the whole lot off. 1980.
Fight!!! Skin girl and punk girl scrapping circa 1987, Kent Hotel, Margate.
Merchandise from my first gig. Bad Manners supported by proto riot girl act Dolly Mixture, Margate Winter Gardens, 1981. I wrote about it in this piece for the Guardian some years later when This Is England came out, comparing the film’s plot with my own youth.
Toast in the 1980s and in 2011, outside the West Coast bar in Margate (UK) which regularly hosts skinhead weekenders. You can hear him right now playing Ska on what is the UK’s best and funniest ska and reggae show: Ska Shack. He plays with Lee on there every Thursday 1930-2130 GMT. Enjoy!
Portrait © Iain Aitch.
