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'70s

Black and white image showing person sitting on concrete pier with city skyline and bridge in background across water.
© Martha Cooper
Music

I Hear Music in the Streets: How New York emerged as a global beacon of culture

From subways to the sky — Seeing the emergence of disco, hip-hop and much more, the city’s streets, rooftops and blocks were incubators of experimentation and parties in the ’70s and ’80s. A new book brings together the work of over 50 photographers who captured its grassroots, underground heyday.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Black and white image of woman standing behind counter in shop with shelves of bottles, jars, and products arranged on wall behind her.
Activism

Remembering Fietas, Johannesburg’s vibrant neighbourhood ripped by Apartheid

Fragments of Fietas — In the ’70s, South African authorities forcibly removed non-white people from the western suburb, now known as Pageview. Enraged, photographer David Goldblatt documented its erasure.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Two people in leather jackets on street, one carrying the other piggyback. Victorian terraced houses and vintage cars in background.
Music

Throwback portraits of the UK’s first punks

Punks 1978-1980 — While working as a photographer in the army, Wayne “Spike” Large would moonlight as a punk on the weekends. His new photobook revisits the characters that he captured from the genre’s heyday.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Four persons - three women and one man - posing outdoors. The women are wearing elaborate clothing and jewellery.
Culture

Nostalgic photos of everyday life in ’70s San Francisco

A Fearless Eye — Having moved to the Bay Area in 1969, Barbara Ramos spent days wandering its streets, photographing its landscape and characters. In the process she captured a city in flux, as its burgeoning countercultural youth movement crossed with longtime residents.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Black and white image of subway carriage interior with sleeping man seated on bench
Culture

The mundane bliss of New York’s subways in the ’70s

NYC Passengers 1976-1981 — During a very different decade in NYC, which bounced between rich creativity and sketchiness, photographer Joni Sternbach captured the idiosyncratic isolation found on its rail networks.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A group of people, likely children, sitting around a table surrounded by various comic books, magazines, and plates of food.
© Michael Jang
Culture

How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography

The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Photography

Revisiting London’s East End During the ’70s and ’80s

Photographer Bandele ‘Tex’ Ajetunmobi spent five decades crafting an intimate portrait of the East End as seen through the eyes of a consummate insider.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Photography

Adventures across Europe in the 1970s and ’80s

Sun-soaked snapshots — Photographer Sergio Purtell spent years travelling the continent at length, capturing a romantic world of motels, cafes, beaches and bars.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Photography

Bleak and beautiful: a visual history of Leeds

20th century portrait — After moving to the city in the 1970s, photographer Peter Mitchell began shooting its rapidly-changing urban landscape.

Written by: Zoe Whitfield

Photography

Capturing the underground hedonism of Studio 54

Sex, drugs and disco — Inspired by its diverse and decadent spirit, photographer Meryl Meisler spent years shooting at the New York club. Now, she’s dusting off her archive.

Written by: Miss Rosen

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