Syd Shelton’s East Enders
Brick Lane 1978
Photographer Syd Shelton‘s enduring fascination with the East End was sparked by a childhood visit from Yorkshire with an uncle and aunt more than fifty years ago. “My cousin was was working in a mission somewhere off Bethnal Green Rd,” Syd recalled, “It was a scary part of London then and I remember my uncle looked out of the window every few minutes to check the wheels were still on his car!”
“The day I left college in 1968, I came down to London and I have worked here ever since, photographing continuously in Hackney and Tower Hamlets,” Syd admitted to me.
In the seventies, Syd became one of the founders of Rock Against Racism, using music as a force for social cohesion, and his photographs of this era include many affectionate images of racial harmony alongside a record of the culture of racism . “It was an exciting time when, after the death of Altab Ali, the Asian community stood up to be counted and the people of the East End became militant against the National Front,” he explained, “In 1981, I got a studio in the Kingsland Rd and I only gave it up recently because the rents became too expensive.”
Syd’s portraits of East Enders span four decades yet he did not set out consciously to document social change. “I never started this as a project, it’s only when I looked back that I realised I had taken swathes of pictures of people in the East End,” he explained, “So now I come back and spend a day on the streets each week to continue.”
“I say I am not a documentary photographer, because I like to talk to people before I take my picture to see what I can coax out of them,” he qualified,“Taking photos is what makes my heart beat.”
Bethnal Green 1980
Linda, Kingsland Rd 1981
Bethnal Green 1980
Bagger, Cambridge Heath Rd 1979
Columbia Rd 1978
Jubilee St, 1979
Petticoat Lane 1981
Brick Lane 1978
Aldgate East 1979
Brick Lane 1980
Hoxton 1979
Tower Hamlets 1981
Brick Lane 1976
Jubilee St 1977
Brick Lane 1978
School Cleaners’ Strike 1978
Petticoat Lane 1978
David Widgery, Limehouse 1981
Sisters, Bow 1984
Sisters, Tower Hamlets 1988
Bow Scrapyard 1984
Ridley Rd Market 1992
Ridley Rd Market 1992
Ridley Rd Market 1995
Whitechapel 2013
Shadwell 2013
Brick Lane 2013
Dalston Lane 2013
Bethnal Green 2013
Photographs copyright © Syd Shelton
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In 1978 I had to go Brixton in the early evening. Everyone told me “it’s dangerous” and “you shouldn’t go on your own”.
I was met at Brixton tube station by the brother of the child I was visiting. He and his mate were “bovver boys”. They escorted me to the family home – and then back again, waiting until I was safely on the train. At one point a London bobby stopped us and asked if I was all right but then just went on.
Yes, I know it had a bad reputation. But, after that first occasion I went backwards and forwards doing research and never had any trouble.
Love these pictures, so glad you’ve got them
Syd’s engagement with his subjects has made some great images here. He has cleverly made them do some work in addition to his own. Genuine collaboration creates strong shots.
Marvelous, iconic photographs from Syd. Great to see the photograph of the late David Widgery & the sisters from Bow take my breath away.
These photos have brought back memories, especially of the 70s: staring at the rude boys, rock against racism, believing what you wore was who you were. The latter would prove the biggest illusion. 40 years on everything and nothing has changed but the energy of these photographs is as fresh as the day they were taken.