The early 1980’s was a very political and volatile period in the UK. It was the early years for Thatcher and the government put itself on a collision course with the unions and manufacturing industries. New labour laws restricted the ability of people to defend their jobs and business's were given all the rights to restrict strikes. The world was being remodelled according to a neoliberalism ideology which would fundamentally change the social and political landscape of the UK. With the situation we find ourselves in now these images seem all the more relevant today.
As a young photography student I began to document the world around me, focusing on the social and political issues of the time. I went along to several marches in support of The Miners Strike and the Wapping dispute with the printers. These were major industrial conflicts that shaped the future of the industrial landscape. Also the Anti-Apartheid movement was very active at the time.
One of the great things about being a photography student back then is that you could get access to places that would be near impossible these days. It's strange how now the world is a lot less transparent and increasingly secretive. I took full advantage of this and gained access to several factories. It was part of a project about working lives of people in heavy industries. These seemed to be an area of UK life that was fast disappearing. I even went to Manchester to document a family in the Hulme estate. These are some of the images I shot back then printed as very rough work prints.
