Martyn Goodacre is a renowned rock & roll photographer who captured many iconic bands and artists whilst working as a freelancer for the music press throughout the 1990s. Before his days travelling the world photographing some of the biggest names in music, Martyn was part of the large squatting community in London during the 1980s, and it was during this time that he first became interested in photography as he documented his surroundings.

Some did it out of necessity, others preferred the communal lifestyle already kick-started by the hippies in the 60’s and 70’s, but most saw this as a form of protest. In 1984, with an unemployment rate of nearly 12% in the UK, it was inevitable that artists, musicians, students, the unemployed and immigrants would come together in a revolt against being homeless whilst gentrification, racism and homophobia loomed.

As somebody who occupied various squats in London (including the notorious Ambulance Station on Old Kent Road), Goodacre’s images are not voyeuristic but are instead a visual record from somebody who was at the centre of it all.

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