Shooting the second wave of Britain’s mods and rockers

Raw streets — Photographer Janette Beckman shares her portraits of the UK’s most famous subcultures – two groups who were, for a brief moment in time, each other’s natural enemies.

Although her parents did not want her to be an artist, London native Janette Beckman convinced them to let her enroll on a foundation year at St. Martins School of Art in the 1970s. Once they agreed, Beckman moved to the South London neighbourhood of Streatham, where she paid £5 a week to rent a floor in a semi-squat inhabited by fellow art students.

Her love for portraiture led her to eventually take up photography at the London College of Communication. After discovering August Sander’s seminal monograph, People of the 20th Century, in the school library, Beckman began documenting the explosion of rebel culture in a series of street portraits made across the UK. 

In Mods & Rockers Raw Streets UK 1979-1982 (Café Royal Books), Beckman takes us back to the second coming of these classic British subcultures – two groups who were, for a brief moment in time, each other’s natural enemies. 

“Back in the ‘60s, the Mods and the Rockers used to have all these fights in Brighton,” Beckman says. “The Rockers rode bikes and the Mods rode their scooters, then they’d get together on the beach, get pissed, and battle each other. It was a huge scandal. It was an early youth rebellion.”

While America flourished after World War II, Britain lagged behind, rebuilding from the rubble of the war. Mods and Rockers initially took their cues from American fashion, music and film, until bands like The Who and The Jam came along and gave it a UK twist. 

Islington Twins London 1981

Caister couple in parking lot 1980

By the late ’70s, a second wave had risen, fueled by kids old enough to rummage through their parents’ closets and don their highly prized garb. “Mod was a very sophisticated look,” Beckman says. “It was very different since it was happening in the time of punk, when people were literally cutting up garbage bags and putting them on with Doc Martens and an Army jacket.”

Beckman took her first youth culture portrait of the Islington Twins while teaching photography in East London in 1976 in East London, using a cheap Russian version of a Rolleiflex. She was wowed by their style and panache. “Mod clothes were very tailored: narrow trousers, skinny ties, and sharkskin suits,” she says. “It was a really smart look.”

Soon thereafter, Beckman discovered Rockabilly teen weekends at Caister-on Sea. “Kids would drive their best cars down there and bands would play,” Beckman says. “It would be on a dreary weekend when it was slightly raining and everyone would be eating fish and chips. Then, in the evening you’d get wasted on beer. You don’t need money to do it – you just get a leather jacket and dance.”

Beckman fondly remembers going to a Rockabilly night at an old dance club in the Strand with a bunch of friends during her art school days. She paired a black and green circle skirt with a sleeveless t-shirt that said “Elvis” in glitter and a pair of shoes with crystal plastic heels. “We would just go out there and dance with the old Rockers all night,” she remembers, fondly.

Phil from the Polecats, Caister 1980

Mod Girl London 1976

Islington Twins London 1979

Mod kid, Scotland 1981

Mods on scooter, Streatham 1976

Teddy Boy Caister 1980

Rockabilly Dance, Caister 1980

Mods & Rockers Raw Streets UK 1979-1982 is out now on Café Royal Books.

Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter


Ad

Latest on Huck

Red shop frontage with "Open Out" branding and appointment-only signage.
Activism

Meet the trans-led hairdressers providing London with gender-affirming trims

Open Out — Since being founded in 2011, the Hoxton salon has become a crucial space the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Hannah Bentley caught up with co-founder Greygory Vass to hear about its growth, breaking down barbering binaries, and the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Written by: Hannah Bentley

Cyclists racing past Palestinian flag, yellow barriers, and spectators.
Sport

Gazan amputees secure Para-Cycling World Championships qualification

Gaza Sunbirds — Alaa al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour earned Palestine’s first-ever top-20 finish at the Para-Cycling World Cup in Belgium over the weekend.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Crowded festival site with tents, stalls and an illuminated red double-decker bus. Groups of people, including children, milling about on the muddy ground.
© Alan Tash Lodge
Music

New documentary revisits the radical history of UK free rave culture

Free Party: A Folk History — Directed by Aaron Trinder, it features first-hand stories from key crews including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and Circus Warp, with public streaming available from May 30.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Weathered wooden building with a tall spire, person on horseback in foreground.
Culture

Rahim Fortune’s dreamlike vision of the Black American South

Reflections — In the Texas native’s debut solo show, he weaves familial history and documentary photography to challenge the region’s visual tropes.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A collage depicting a giant flup for mankind, with an image of the Earth surrounded by planets and people in sci-fi costumes.
Culture

Why Katy Perry’s space flight was one giant flop for mankind

Galactic girlbossing — In a widely-panned, 11-minute trip to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘Women’s World’ singer joined an all-female space crew in an expensive vanity advert for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains its apocalypse indicating signs.

Written by: Emma Garland

Three orange book covers with the title "Foreign Fruit" against a dark background.
Culture

Katie Goh: “I want people to engage with the politics of oranges”

Foreign Fruit — In her new book, the Edinburgh-based writer traces her personal history through the citrus fruit’s global spread, from a village in China to Californian groves. Angela Hui caught up with her to find out more.

Written by: Katie Goh

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.