The Residents of Hyde Park Flats, Sheffield, 1988 | Photographs by Bill Stephenson
Photographer Bill Stephenson was born in Birmingham in 1955 and spent his teenage years growing up in Leeds. After studying his A-levels, Bill was determined to work within a creative industry and decided to enroll in a furniture design course at Nottingham’s Trent Polytechnic. It was while studying this course that he picked up a camera for the first time as a way to record his work. That was when Bill knew photography was the career path he had been looking for, and he quit the furniture design course to focus on his newfound passion.
Butlin's
After leaving the Polytechnic, Bill had a couple of odd jobs as a tire fitter and delivery driver before spending a season as a photographer at Butlin’s in Skegness in the summer of 1977.
Bill “This seemed like ‘lost time’ for many people, including my parents, especially as my brother and sister were both studying medicine. However, by working at such a frantic place like Butlin’s, I quickly lost my natural shyness in photographing people, which would help to define my work years later.”
Donna Hargreaves and Carmen Bello both age 14, sit on a 4th storey concrete parapet. It was usual to see young people sunbathing on these balconies catching the last of the days sunshine.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Sheffield City Polytechnic
Bill would spend hours absorbing the work of photographers whose work inspired him, such as Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, among others. He sent a portfolio of photographs to the British Journal of Photography, which was published. This led to an invitation from course leader Ken Philip from the Communication Arts BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree course at Sheffield City Polytechnic. Bill was accepted onto the course, and at the beginning of the third year, he had a tutorial from regular visiting lecturer and photographer Paul Hill.
Self Confidence
Paul expressed his exasperation with the progress made by Bill and inquired about his background before joining the course. Bill revealed his experience at Butlin’s and the self-confidence he gained through public photography. Paul, impressed by Bill’s abilities, suggested that he use them to tell stories and “tell what he has seen” with others.
“I quickly developed a passion and commitment for photographing and recording communities of people who are often neglected, marginalised or considered unimportant.”
Tony ‘The Ton’ Greaves and Martin age 8, outside the ‘Pop In’ centre. The young kids looked up to Tony as a role model, he was nicknamed ‘The Ton’ as they believed he could lift a ton weight.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Hyde Park Flats
“The Hyde Park and Park Hill Development was the largest social housing estate of its type in Europe, built on one of Sheffield’s seven hills. It was divided into two distinct areas: the low-rise Park Hill Flats and the high-rise tower blocks ‘Hyde Park.’ By the mid-1980s, Sheffield City Council considered Hyde Park Flats a failed experiment in social housing. The last community to live there was in 1988, and the flats were vacated during 1989-90. A number of flats were refurbished to provide accommodation for the World Student Games in 1991, with the rest of the flats being demolished between 1992 and 1993.”
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Streets in the Sky
Bill’s ‘Streets in the Sky’ project was concerned with photographing the last residents of Hyde Park Flats in 1988.
Bill “Despite the neglected condition of the building and increasing anti-social behaviour at that time, I found a close community reluctant to be broken up and dispersed throughout other housing estates in Sheffield. I did not meet a single resident who wanted to be rehoused, despite the condition of the flats, they considered Hyde Park to be their home, and also a significant landmark and were proud to be tenants in such a prominent building overlooking Sheffield.
“Many believed that Hyde Park despite its short comings, represented a vision for social housing that was both optimistic and outward looking and that the council had made ill judged and short sighted decisions that had contributed the decline, deterioration and the eventual demolition of the building.”
Manual Bello playing with his dog near the ‘Pop In Centre’. Dogs are banned from the flats, tenants faced being evicted if they did not give up their pets.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Building Relationships
“The process of photographing at Hyde Park initially proved difficult, I started photographing in May, 1988 but it wasn’t until June of that year that I’d made contact with a small network of residents who understood and supported the project. There was resistance to anyone ‘official’, so establishing relationships with ‘personalities’ on the estate was key to being able to work closely with residents.
“I kept my camera out of sight in a plastic carrier bag in order to lessen my impact when walking around the estate. Talking to people, looking for introductions and visiting the various facilities helped residents become familiar with my purpose.”
Gallery
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Sue, the owner of Sue’s Shop. Despite the shop being regularly pilfered, she provided a life line to many tenants by providing ‘strap’ (derived from ‘strapped for cash’). Strap was a short term loan made to customers who cannot pay immediately. Defaulters names and their debt were eventually written on cards and placed in the shop window.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Photo © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved.
Bill’s ‘Streets in the Sky’ was exhibited at The Untitled Galley, Sheffield during October 1988 and toured nationally. Bill was nominated for the Fox Talbot Award organised by the National Media Museum, Bradford for this work.
The photographs in this series were taken using a Hasselblad 500 C/M camera with 80mm and 50mm lenses.
Find out more about Bill Stephenson’s social documentary work on his website
All images © Bill Stephenson, all rights reserved. No usage or reproduction of any kind without prior permission of the copyright holder.
Share
Tweet
Email
- Article first published
- January 19, 2023
READ NEXT
SUPPORT BCA
British Culture Archive is an independent archive and cultural resource that was set up through a genuine passion for photography. Since 2017, we have supported British photography by publishing and exhibiting works from photographers and by unearthing and giving a global platform to previously unseen photography.
Our online galleries and exhibitions will always be free for everyone. Public support and funding is vital for us to continue documenting and preserving important photography. If you appreciate the work we do, please consider making a donation through the link provided below.