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Neil Martinson, Photographer

February 5, 2018
by the gentle author

Neil Martinson documented the working life of Hackney and the East End throughout the seventies and eighties. These photographs are selected from his retrospective ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE at Stour Space, Hackney Wick until 22nd February and monograph published by Cafe Royal Books. Neil was born and brought up in Hackney, where he started taking street scenes and became a founder member of the Hackney Flashers photography collective.

Cheshire St

Steve Manning

Ridley Rd Market

Brian Simons

Bethnal Green Rd

Tony Kyriakides

Ken Jacobs

Ken Jacobs

Brian Simons

Stoke Newington

Ridley Rd Market

Lew Lessen

Abney Park Cemetery

Photographs copyright © Neil Martinson

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10 Responses leave one →
  1. February 5, 2018

    They give a real feel of the period. And it’s nice to see so many old Spitalfieldslife acquaintances popping up.

  2. February 5, 2018

    Apparently, Brian Ferry recently stated that ‘no one’ – as in, one assumes, hip and trendy – lived in the East End in the early 70s. He obviously had not met Ken Jacobs!

  3. StephenJ permalink
    February 5, 2018

    I remember “No.6″…

    Coffin nails!

  4. Mary permalink
    February 5, 2018

    Wonderful images! I love the one of the teacher in the playground ringing the school bell. I bet he was great fun.

  5. Ron Bunting permalink
    February 5, 2018

    Is Brian Simons still teaching? He would be retired I guess ,if not I bet that Afro is long gone. . And lew the barber showing the bloke the results of his new hair cut was a hoot!

  6. Helen Breen permalink
    February 5, 2018

    Greetings from Boston,

    GA, thanks for such another real life, gritty view of ordinary lives of folks in the East End three decades ago. Imagine seeing someone smoking today at his work station amid that myriad of fabrics!

    Some things have changed for the better…

  7. Annie S permalink
    February 5, 2018

    …the lady florist making the dog floral tribute with a cigarette in her mouth – wonderful!!

  8. mark permalink
    February 5, 2018

    Turn the clock back! Sublime images of working class heroes of the nineteen seventies. Everyone smoking, almost certainly everyone passed on by now. If only they could see what their London and Country had become. Perhaps not. The streets belonged to us then.

  9. Marcia Howard permalink
    February 6, 2018

    Amazing images, bringing a past era to life with such efficacy!

  10. February 8, 2018

    Grand photographs!

    Love & Peace
    ACHIM

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