Gavin Watson’s photographs have been hailed by Terry Richardson and were the visual inspiration for last year’s This is England. His newest book, Skins & Punks comes out next month and it is beautiful. More than a document of youth culture in 1980s Britain, Skins & Punks is a document of exuberant youth.
Set against the gray tones of Thatcher-led England the working-class kids in these photos pop off of the page in a way that could only be captured by one of them. That one was young Gavin who at the age of 13 decided to buy a camera instead of the binoculars he had been coveting. Right around that time, Watson also started to get into Two-Tone and skinhead culture. This book digs into his archives and, with little in the way of text, tells the story of Gavin and his pals from 1978-85.
Working-class England always took special pride in its appearance and the skins in this book illustrate this perfectly. Classic brands like Doc Marten, Fred Perry, Levi Strauss, Ben Sherman, Crombie are all over this book making it worth checking out if only for the fashion.
See below for some pics…
