Photographer Derek Ridger releases book of 80s portraits

It was a decade defined by Margaret Thatcher, MTV, yuppies, strikes, riots and mass unemployment.

The 1980s was a period of radical social change, that saw young people express themselves through subcultures such as the New Romantics, the punks, the ravers or the emerging hip hop scene.

They were all captured on camera on the streets of London by photographer Derek Ridger, who has now compiled a book of his most stunning portraits from that decade.

From punks with studded jackets and spiky gelled hair and ravers kissing in a nightclub to hedonistic fun at music festivals, Ridger offers a nostalgic snapshot of a truly iconic decade with his tome In The Eighties – Portraits From Another Time.

A woman stands in chains, a tutu and skin-coloured tights that don’t cover her bare bottom at a music festival in an unknown year

They could give Jedward a run for their money! A young man and women with matching mohawks look into Derek Ridger's camera in an unknown year in the 1980s

They could give Jedward a run for their money! A young man and women with matching mohawks look into Derek Ridger’s camera in an unknown year in the 1980s

The 1980s was the decade that sub-culture as a way of life reached its zenith, which Ridger documented by taking photos of punks like this man

The 1980s was the decade that sub-culture as a way of life reached its zenith, which Ridger documented by taking photos of punks like this man

Two New Romantics, one in a studded biker leather jacket, kiss and cuddle while being photographed by Ridger

Two New Romantics, one in a studded biker leather jacket, kiss and cuddle while being photographed by Ridger

Two young people get hot and heavy on the floor of a nightclub underneath a bar table but the people around them don't seem to mind

Two young people get hot and heavy on the floor of a nightclub underneath a bar table but the people around them don’t seem to mind

This man has strange lines drawn on his face, and stares intensely into Ridger's camera sometime in the 1980s

This man has strange lines drawn on his face, and stares intensely into Ridger’s camera sometime in the 1980s

This man leaps into a busy crowd at what appears to be a rave during the 1980s, documented by Ridger

This man leaps into a busy crowd at what appears to be a rave during the 1980s, documented by Ridger

Members of the New Romantic punk rocker subculture drink beers in a London park in the 1980s

Members of the New Romantic punk rocker subculture drink beers in a London park in the 1980s

In The Eighties - Portraits From Another Time by Derek Ridger is out this month in hardback, £24.95

In The Eighties – Portraits From Another Time by Derek Ridger is out this month in hardback, £24.95

In a decade of mass unemployment, strikes and riots – the poor people of London were being driven out into housing estates in the Home Counties.  London was rough and lawless. Subcultures offered spaces to escape the pressures of the decade and ways out of the traditional identities that people no longer wanted to assume

In a decade of mass unemployment, strikes and riots – the poor people of London were being driven out into housing estates in the Home Counties. London was rough and lawless. Subcultures offered spaces to escape the pressures of the decade and ways out of the traditional identities that people no longer wanted to assume

Ridger took many of his portraits at music festivals

Ridger captured the hedonistic fun that many young people had at these events during the 1980s

Ridger took many of his portraits at music festivals, capturing the hedonistic fun that many young people had at these events during the 1980s

An eccentrically dressed androgynous member of the public stands on a street in London. An explosion of creativity took place against a backdrop of radical social change during the 1980s

An eccentrically dressed androgynous member of the public stands on a street in London. An explosion of creativity took place against a backdrop of radical social change during the 1980s

An amorous man kisses a woman in a nightclub in the 1980s. The decade was when post-modern life began in the west, and London was at the epicenter of this shift

An amorous man kisses a woman in a nightclub in the 1980s. The decade was when post-modern life began in the west, and London was at the epicenter of this shift

Two punks kiss outside a pub in London while members of the public look on

Two punks kiss outside a pub in London while members of the public look on

In The Eighties – Portraits From Another Time by Derek Ridger is out this month in hardback, £24.95.

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