Derek Ridgers’ portraits of passionate moments in public

Derek Ridgers is a consummate chronicler of the UK’s youth subcultural tribes and nightlife. Throughout the punk and post-punk eras of the 1970s through to the 80s skinhead revival, the Blitz kids, the new romantics and beyond, Ridgers was an omnipresent but inobtrusive presence in the city’s clubs, pubs, tube stations and streets. With sensitivity and an eye for moments of quiet introspection or romance (as well as scenes of pure hedonism and chaos), he trained his camera on London’s seething youth culture.

Originally self-published as three sold-out zines, Hello, I Love You brings together the most lust-filled photographs from Ridgers’ archive – couples enjoying an intimate moment together amid a frenetic dance floor (at times, actually on the floor itself); making out on the platform of the Hammersmith Underground; sprawled on pub banquettes at closing time. 

Kissing never changes, but so much else has since these pictures were shot. Not just the ebb and flow of trends and subcultures, but our concepts of public and private; our sense of proximity and distance; how subcultures manifest themselves; if subcultures are even exist anymore, or if the internet has flattened them entirely. 

Below, we talk to the great Derek Ridgers about Hello, I Love You, the lure of nightlife, how iPhones have eroded our sense of mystery, and more.

You’ve documented youth subcultures for decades. What initially drew you to the margins rather than the mainstream? 

Derek Ridgers: It’s probably because I’m most comfortable inhabiting those margins myself. I’m an only child and my parents were never outgoing or gregarious. We seldom had visitors over to the house.

When I was at school, I tended to be interested in the sorts of things other kids weren’t – art and music, mainly. So that made me feel like a bit of an outsider. I wasn’t ever part of a gang and I’ve never really been a joiner, but I was always totally happy ploughing my own furrow. I suppose I took that perspective into my adult life.  

Your portraits – these ones in particular – often feel intimate despite being taken in chaotic environments. Can you tell us about these private moments in public and what drew you to them with your camera? 

Derek Ridgers: Other than, very briefly, when I was a teenager, I’ve never been one for public displays of affection, myself. But I don’t think one would have to be too much of a psychologist to figure out that there is a strong vicarious element in a lot of my photography. 

My photographs don’t really come with anecdotes; I prefer the memorable bit to be the image itself

What is the most memorable encounter from the portraits in this Hello, I Love You? Do you have any enduring memories of taking these pictures? 

Derek Ridgers: My photographs don’t really come with anecdotes; I prefer the memorable bit to be the image itself. My enduring memory of actually taking the photographs was just how friendly everyone was – even the skinheads. When I was shooting portraits, on the street or in nightclubs, I would always ask permission first. Most people were polite. They didn’t always say yes, but only a few would just walk on by and ignore me. When it came to shooting kissing couples, no one ever said no. Not once. Maybe they had better things to think about than a bloke standing there with a camera. 

You’ve said your work is about observing rather than shaping the scene. How do you balance documentation with artistic expression? And without disturbing the scene as it unfolds? 

Derek Ridgers: What I’m doing, in this context, is really making a series of binary decisions. For instance, am I going out with my camera today or not? Am I going to this place or that place? Am I going to try to photograph this person or that person? 

Then, when I get back to my darkroom, I’m making another set of binary choices. Does this photograph work better than that photograph? Etcetera. There will inevitably be elements in some of the photographs that I didn’t notice at the time – especially those taken in dark nightclubs – so some will end up being rejected. But I think it would be a bit of an exaggeration to call any of that ‘artistic expression’ exactly. 

Regarding disturbing a scene as it unfolds, obviously, I try not to. Sometimes, if I felt that speaking to a kissing couple would kill the moment, I would always shoot first and ask permission afterwards. 

I can hardly bear the thought of all the fabulous, beautiful people I’ll never get to meet and never have a chance to photograph after I’m dead

How have iPhones, social media and other technology affected our sense of privacy and mystery, do you think? 

Derek Ridgers: I think the iPhone has more or less eroded both. We all live lives of anticipated memory these days. Nothing is mysterious insofar as an explanation is only a couple of Google clicks away. 

It’s not just the ubiquity of the iPhone, you can be filmed by so-called ‘smart glasses’ these days and you’d never even know – perhaps ‘sneaky’ would be a better name than ‘smart’. It’s almost impossible for our private moments to remain a secret nowadays and hopefully most people realise that. I say hopefully, but there are too many young people these days having their lives ruined by cyber-bullying and revenge porn. 

What contemporary subculture or movement, if any, do you find most compelling right now, and why? 

Derek Ridgers: The era of very clearly defined British subcultures is now over. These days, it seems like everything exists side by side, all at the same time. Having said that, I find the London LGBTQ+ friendly club scene just as compelling as it ever was. I don’t shoot in nightclubs very often these days, but when I do, I still see plenty of people I’d love to try to photograph. 

What continues to compel you to reach for your camera? 

Derek Ridgers: Fabulous, beautiful-looking people. I can hardly bear the thought of all the fabulous, beautiful people I’ll never get to meet and never have a chance to photograph after I’m dead.

Hello, I Love You by Derek Ridgers is published by IDEA and is available here now.