Liverpool and Merseyside, 1980s: Photographs by Nick Wynne

The passage of time moves at an ever-growing pace. While moving forward is essential, we often need to remember where we came from and how things were for each generation living in our towns and communities. It’s necessary to look back and understand the power of documentary photography in preserving the changing times we have lived through.

Community

Nick Wynne’s photographs of Liverpool and Merseyside in the 1980s depict a time when we were less distracted and polarised by the constant overload of news and media. There is something special about Nick’s images; you can see his genuine connection with his subject.

Like Rob Bremner, a fellow student of Wallasey and Newport, Nick’s images capture the raw energy and reality of everyday life growing up on Merseyside during the Thatcher years.

"Tom Wood was a massive influence on me. He took me into the library and showed me the works of Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander and Diane Arbus. He talked about the photos and why they worked."

Tom Wood

Nick: “I first became interested in photography at school in the early ’80s. I left school without any qualifications, so I initially did a foundation course in art before going on to the photography course at Wallasey. At Wallasey, I was taught by a tutor called Fred Edwards and Tom Wood. Tom Wood was a massive influence on me. He took me into the library and showed me the works of Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander and Diane Arbus. He talked about the photos and why they worked. He would also take me around Liverpool while he was taking his photos, shooting from the top deck of the bus and around the markets. I thought it was great how he would just go up to people and take photos. This inspired me, and I started to do this myself. Tom taught me how to read photographs.”

"During my time at Wallasey, I began a body of work documenting a traveller community in North Wales, as well as everyday life in Liverpool and Merseyside."

Traveller Community

“One of my first projects at college was to document the landscapes nearby. As I took photographs in Shotton, North Wales, by the Steelworks, a large community of travellers arrived on the site.

The camp was split into two parts: the Irish travellers and the New Age travellers. The two groups were travelling together, so they all got on with each other. When they first arrived, the young Irish kids were throwing stones at me. Ben in the above photo was a little lad who clung on to me; I was 17 when I took these photos. All the travellers got to know me well; I gained their trust by smoking cannabis with them… once they knew I wasn’t police or undercover, they were fine with me taking their photos.”

“After Wallasey, I continued my studies at Wolverhampton Poly under Nick Hedges, and finally, in the early 90s, I went to Newport, which Daniel Meadows then headed up.”

Power of The Image

“In recent years, I have been working on self-funded projects in Beirut and nearer to home, reflecting my awareness and vulnerabilities in the wider communities where I find myself. I’m attempting to balance the desire to capture our changing times. At the same time, ironically, we face the increasing dilemma of other people’s awareness about the power of the image, the perception others may have of the creator, or the reasons for creating those images.”