Looking for trouble: 1980s youth culture – in pictures

John Ingledew’s Looking for Trouble photo zine is part of a series published by the Museum of Youth Culture celebrating British subcultures. The period covered by Ingledew is from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, a golden age of youth culture in Britain that included rockabilly, teds, punk, two-tone, ska, skinhead and mod revivals and the start of the football casuals and Perry boys, with each group having their own vibrant scene and styles

John Ingledew/Museum of Youth Culture/LDY

Main image: Rockabillies outside the pub next to the Kursaal amusement park in Southend-on-Sea. Photograph: John Ingledew/Museum of Youth Culture/LDY

  • A skinhead couple in Leicester Square, London, in 1980. Ingledew recalls: ‘It was an amazing time back then, a brief period when things seemed accelerated compared to today. Music went from pub rock to punk to new wave to two-tone and then mod revival in about three summers. There were a huge number of live music venues, and going out was cheap. That’s gone, I’m afraid.’
    A skinhead couple in Leicester Square, London, in 1980

  • A Clash fan on King’s Road in London in 1979. ‘I think the attitude of many of the individuals seen in the pictures is really strong. Just look at the reaction of the young woman on seeing the Clash fan approach. You get that attitude from belonging to a gang and knowing you really look the part.’
    A Clash fan on King's Road in London in 1979

  • Mod revivalists at Notre Dame hall in Leicester Square, London, in 1983
    Mod revivalists at Notre Dame hall in Leicester Square, London, in 1983

  • Rockers gather in Brighton on a bank holiday weekend in 1982
    Rockers gather in Brighton on a bank holiday weekend in 1982

  • Mod revivalists at Notre Dame hall in Leicester Square, London, in 1983. ‘It was very different, cameras were quite rare then and being photographed I guess seemed a bit more special than today,’ says Ingledew.
    Mod revivalists at Notre Dame hall in Leicester Square, London, in 1983. ‘It was very different, cameras were quite rare then and being photographed I guess seemed a bit more special than today,’ says Ingledew.

  • A couple embrace on Brighton beach on a bank holiday Monday in 1982
    A couple embrace on Brighton beach on a bank holiday Monday in 1982

  • Kev the Ted at home in Teddington in 1982. Ingledew says: ‘When I went back to a club I always took prints to give to the people I’d photographed and became mates with some like Kev the Ted, who I later shot at home with his Eddie Cochran LP. I bump into him every now and again and saw him just the other day.’
    Kev the Ted at home in Teddington in 1982

  • Two Chelsea skins in 1980. ‘People that know they have a great look love to be photographed. When people are looking at the camera, I’ve always asked to take their picture and I can’t remember ever being refused.’
    Two Chelsea skins in 1980

  • West Ham Pringle boys outside Upton Park football ground in 1983
    West Ham Pringle boys outside Upton Park football ground in 1983

  • A visitor puts his boots up on Brighton beach on a bank holiday Monday in 1982. ‘Pictures mature as times change – everyday things that looked so normal now seem unfamiliar. I wish I’d taken more pictures, I’d often only take one or two frames trying to get a good one as I’d only have a roll of 36-exposure film for the day.’
    A visitor puts his boots up on Brighton beach on a bank holiday Monday in 1982

  • Rockabillys outside the pub next to the Kursaal amusement park in Southend-on-Sea in 1983
    Rockabillys outside the pub next to the Kursaal amusement park in Southend-on-Sea in 1983

  • A gang including skinheads, a punk and a Madness fan on Brighton beach in 1983. ‘I really hope there’s just as many young people having just as much a brilliant time today. Following a band or being part of a scene should be part of everyone’s teenage years.’
    A gang including skinheads, a punk and a Madness fan on Brighton beach in 1983
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