UNEARTHED photos reveal working-class life in East London in the 70s – before gastropubs, cafes and hipster kids transformed Hackney forever. In the decades after the war, the area was a raw landscape of bombed out houses, kids playing in streets and buzzing factories teeming with skilled workers. It was a far cry from gentrified, […]
UNEARTHED photos reveal working-class life in East London in the 70s – before gastropubs, cafes and hipster kids transformed Hackney forever.
In the decades after the war, the area was a raw landscape of bombed out houses, kids playing in streets and buzzing factories teeming with skilled workers.
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press Giorgi’s Cafe on Bethnal Green Road, 1971. Some of the areas cafes, such as E Pelicci’s, have remained in the area since 1900[/caption]
It was a far cry from gentrified, advanced areas such as Shoreditch, Hackney, Whitechapel and Dalston – now more famed for cutting-edge technology, industry and trendy pubs and clubs.
The images, taken by local Hackney boy Neil Martinson, take the viewer through workshops, street markets and council homes to capture a time that has nearly been lost forever.
Neil worked as a freelance photographer and taught photography and presents the stunning photos in his latest collection, ‘Hackney Archive: Work and Life 1971-1985’.
His work has taken him around the world, from the Soviet Union to modern day Berlin, documenting everyday changes in the world’s most striking places.
In the intro of his new book, Neil writes: “Why is Hackney called ‘Hackney’? Why could it not be ‘Dirty’?
“Its name stinks of steam and smoke. How much longer do I have to live in this place? Everybody wants to leave and try to forget about Hackney.
“But I can’t. It’s groaning inside me. And that is why everybody smokes. To forget about it. Everybody wants to leave and go to the country.”
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press Dalston Kingsland’s vibrant Ridley Road Market in 1981. These days, world food stalls and veg sellers rub shoulders with trendy bars and clubs[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press East London’s main waterway, the River Lea, in 1971. The river originates in originates in the Chiltern Hills, England, and flows southeast through east London where it meets the River Thames[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press It was common to see children playing on the streets in the 1970s. The lack of traffic, and very different attitudes, gave children a freedom that seems quite remote now[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press A factory worker smokes as he works in a garment factory in Dalston’s Shacklewell Lane, 1981[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press Fresh fish of the day on sale in Dalston’s Ridley Road Market in 1981[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press Politics in Hackney started to change in the 70s and 80s; Nurses took to the streets in pay disputes outside Bethnal Green Hospital[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press A local rag and bone man rides his horse and cart on Graham Road, Hackney, in 1971[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press Local woman Rachel Point and her family at their home on the Nightingale Estate in Lower Clapton, 1974[/caption]
Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press The Telsner family at home in the predominantly Jewish community of Stamford Hill in 1981. Hackney and surrounding areas has played home to multiple nationalities and cultures throughout the decades[/caption]
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Neil Martinson / Hoxton Mini Press A man has his moustache attended to at a local barber shop – some 50 years before the concept of “Movember”[/caption]
