Leeds during Thatcher: An alternative vision of northern coming of age

“I’m keen to coin the phrase of working with owned objects not found,” says Victoria Gill, an image curator from Leeds. Her new book Melanie & The Miners is a journey through candid photographs of her mother’s childhood. Victoria’s penchant for reclamation (her previous projects included photos of items people had stolen from work) led her to the photo boxes in the attic, where she uncovered a world far different to ours now. Drawing influences from Nan Goldin, “who focused on the content in the image rather than camera”, Victoria made the curatorial decision to represent her mother’s coming of age with sincerity and grit – no embellishments.

The book features honest film photographs of a time where political tension within the working-class was at an all-time high. But here, Thatcherism becomes more of an ambient presence, taking a backseat to frank representations of new romantics era hairstyles and blue-collar fashion, all of which were subtly inspired by the struggles of the decade. Captured in the limitations of run-and-gun film cameras, photographs in Melanie & The Miners are draped in darkness. Camera flashes light up alternative women of the 80s as background figures submerge into complete black, almost like memory itself – focusing on a centrepoint whilst obscuring the rest.

While Victoria might not be a ‘photographer’, she’s got a curatorial eye for catching beauty in the ordinary: “One thing I’ve found that I have in common with my friends is finding things on our daily commute or five minute breaks. There’s always things to notice,” she says. In each photograph, historical easter eggs are scattered about for the viewer to interact with, be it kitschy ceramic ornaments or pale pink floral wallpapers.

In today’s post lockdown landscape, fixations on the dominance of digital platforms and escalating isolation can make us forget about times where it was difficult to not meet anybody as opposed to the modern dilemma of not meeting anybody at all. Each photograph is a flurry of activity. People exit cars on their way to the party, pub patrons light cigarettes with matches – indoors. Hairsprayed dyed red hair glows as luminous as the countless pints of amber lager. “The subjects I usually focus on are cultural capital, mobility and playing with social norms,” says Victoria. In all of these seemingly usual objects, they link intimately with the political terrain, accessorising subjects in evidence of their time and place in northern England.

“They give you a slice of Leeds that you may not have seen otherwise,” says Victoria. “Hopefully they say something about looking at new things from people who didn’t go to art school or who on the surface may not be working in the region you see yourself in.” Although political allegories are present through the indie rock aesthetics of androgyny in the 80s and Thatcher’s northern England, Victoria uses these photos to offer an alternative vision of the past, one of female friendships and hope for the future. In an act of connection to her family and region’s history, Victoria reclaims the social club outings, floral skirts, spiky haircuts and disposable cameras from an era of discord and allows them to glow in all of their working class charm.