Subculture | Huck
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Subculture

Person with tall spiked mohawk and dramatic black face paint wearing a dark jacket, standing in front of a graffiti-covered wall in blue light.

Meet Italy’s new generation of gabber and hardcore warriors

Bergamo Hardcore — Photographers GabriTVB and Tchane’s new photo series follows Gen Z revivalists of the subculture and musical style, which broke through the country in the mid-’90s.

  • Music
  • Matthew Burgos

Inside the searing, strangely wholesome world of competitive chilli eating

Red hot — Exploding out of pandemic-era isolation, a growing community of chilliheads are competing across the globe, devouring millions of Scoville units and fighting off agonising capsaicin cramps in the process. Hannah Bentley speaks to some of the scene’s key figures to find out why.

  • Sport
  • Hannah Bentley

Inside the UK’s amateur robot wars scene

Bot Builders — Decades after the sport’s ’90s television heyday, a community of enthusiasts are continuing the craft of building extravagant machines for duelling. Juliet Nottingham attends a Bristol competition to witness the damage, destruction and intricately engineered fighters.

  • Sport
  • Juliet Nottingham
Sophie Green

Sophie Green’s maximalist, technicolour vision of Britain’s fringes

Tangerine Dreams — The photographer has spent over a decade documenting the rituals, subcultures and social gatherings that form the collaged fabric of the UK’s society. A new exhibition at the Martin Parr Foundation celebrates her work and the communities she captures.

  • Culture
  • Roxana Diba

The cathartic roar of Vietnam’s hardcore punk scene

Going hardcore in Saigon — In a country that has gradually opened up in recent decades, a burgeoning youth movement is creating an outlet for youth frustration and anxiety. Frank L’Opez reports from the country’s biggest city’s underground.

  • Huck 83: Life Is A Journey Issue
  • Frank L’Opez

The quiet, introspective delight of Finland’s car cruising scene

Pilluralli — In the country’s small towns and rural areas, young people meet up to drive and hang out with their friends. Jussi Puikkonen spent five years photographing its idiosyncratic pace.

  • Culture
  • Josh Jones

In west London, Subbuteo is alive and flicking

London Subbuteo Club — The tabletop football game sees players imitate vintage teams with tactics and tiny painted replica kits. Ryan Loftus takes a trip to Fulham to meet a dedicated community and witness a titanic Brazil vs Coventry City showdown.

  • Sport
  • Ryan Loftus

Inside the fast and furious world of London’s oldest Scalextric Club

Buzz & whir — First opening in 1977 in north London, members meet every Tuesday to race carefully customised and handcrafted slot cars around a 34-metre plastic track. Ryan Loftus attempts to take them on.

  • Sport
  • Ryan Loftus
Two men in dark clothing engaged in arm wrestling at a table, with spectators and warm lighting in background.

Slap fighting is having a moment. But is it safe?

BritSlap — The booming underground sport sees two competitors take turns striking each other without defending themselves. Critics warn of concussion and long term brain damage, but its devotees see it as a release. George Nash reports from a Liverpool meet, which includes the first ever female fight.

  • Sport
  • George Nash
Two men working at laptops in office setting, one wearing headphones and glasses, wooden desk with bottles and papers visible.

Revenge of the nerds: Inside the Microsoft Excel Championships

The Obsessives — The revolutionary software turns 40 years old today, and since launching has transformed businesses across the world. But it also has a competitive underbelly, where behind the spreadsheets lies a world of brains, brawn and all-out bloodsport.

  • Sport
  • Ginnia Cheng
Dark blue double-decker bus displaying "Stagecoach" branding parked on seafront road beside white railings and lamp post under overcast sky.

Inside the UK Bus Driver of the Year Competition

Terminating here — The annual tournament takes place in Blackpool, where over 100 bus drivers from around the UK are invited to show off their proficiency behind the wheel, from bus stop manoeuvres and the dreaded ‘tailswing test’, to a notoriously hard theory quiz. George Francis Lee reports.

  • Sport
  • George Francis Lee
Person with blonde hair sits cross-legged on bed, arms raised, wearing grey t-shirt and green trousers. "SUB HUMANS" painted on wall.

Inside the bedrooms of American youth during the ’80s and ’90s

Teenagers in Their Bedrooms — Before the turn of the millennium, photographer Adrienne Salinger noticed that a creative, opinionated cohort were underrepresented in wider conversations – Gen X teens. Pictured in their home sanctuaries, they form a luminous portrait of subcultures and styles of the time.

  • Culture
  • Miss Rosen

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