New Town Youth 1985 is a collection of pictures taken by photographer Russell Boyce, who at the time was 23 and fresh out of art college. The stories took a year to complete and the exhibition, which opens January 21, is the first time all the work – around 100 photos – has been exhibited together.
Russell said: “In 1985 Britain was struggling out of a deep recession in ‘Thatcher’s Britain’. Unemployment was 11% and interest rates were over 11%. This generation of young people, myself included, had grown up in an age of uncertainty, one in five under 18 unemployed and homelessness on the rise. The concerns that young people had in 1985 all seem alarmingly familiar today.”
Peterborough was a ‘New Town’, conceived to provide large areas of new housing and job opportunity and in 1985 was rapidly expanding. It was a community trying to shape itself with a diverse mix of cultures.
Russell set out to record the experiences of young people during International Youth Year and was part commissioned by the Peterborough Arts Council.
These diverse settings included youth clubs, school dance groups, a YTS worker, a youth unemployment centre, a home for the homeless young, the Peterborough Youth Trust scheme to help young offenders, the Asian Cultural Centre, The Goulistan Girls Group and cultural exchange gatherings.
Russell added: “Despite all the challenges young people were facing in 1985 it wasn’t all bad and I hope my pictures show this. I wanted to capture the hope, drive and passion that young people channel into their lives as they find their place in society. This is as true today as it was in 1985’.
After completing the work in Peterborough, Russell went on to work for Reuters News agency as an award-winning news photographer, then as picture editor, managing the Asia, Middle East and Africa regions for Reuters picture service. Today he has returned to his roots and is presently documenting the Lea Bridge Road that stretches between Waltham Forest and Hackney in London.
1. New Town Youth exhibition
Boys pose for a picture during Friday Club in Peterborough, 1985. Photo: Russell Boyce
2. New Town Youth exhibition
Youth Training Scheme (YTS) worker Amanda Fields watches over the clothes racks in Collier menswear shop in Peterborough, 1985. Photo: Russell Boyce
3. New Town Youth exhibition
Boys play pool and exercise with free weights at the Asian Cultural Centre in Peterborough, 1985. Photo: Russell Boyce
4. New Town Youth exhibition
A woman uses weights to do squats at Pauly's gym on Lincoln Road July 16, 1985. Photo: Russell Boyce