Top image: Barry Tuinol, (1983) by Derek Ridgers

Curated by Jim Stephenson and Ali Tollervey, Behind the Beat explores the breadth and diversity of British subcultures, right up until the present day. Showing at this year’s Brighton Fringe Festival, the photography exhibition looks at a mix of voices from different time periods, tracing musical movements throughout British history. “It was more about choosing the bodies of work, rather than the photographers,” explains Stephenson below.

The ten artists contributing to the exhibition (including Derek Ridgers, Ken Russell, Stuart Griffins, Harris Elliot and Olivia Rose), look at selected scenes from 1955 to 2017, journeying through 60 years of British youth subculture in one stellar display. It’s in its subcultures that British youth have found strength and identity — and Stephenson brilliantly celebrates this at the exhibition: “It’s a disenfranchised group of young people making defiant music that celebrates where they’ve come from whilst sticking two fingers up.”

Lisa Walden: Behind the Beat is an exploration of musical movements, looking at punks, mods, rockers and many other subcultures. What was your inspiration behind the exhibition’s creation?
Jim Stephenson: Behind the Beat is curated by myself and Ali Tollervey. It all started from a conversation in the pub, where Ali and I were discussing his hometown of Portsmouth and his involvement in the Hip Hop scene there. We talked about putting on an exhibition using his images and those by other local photographers, have some music and throw a big party. Out of the blue, Spectrum Photographic gallery approached Miniclick (the photography group I am a part of) and asked if we wanted to curate an exhibition for Brighton Festival Fringe, so Ali and I decided to combine the two. Initially the exhibition was going to be focused on one photographer’s work, but the more research we did the more it became clear that we needed a mix of voices in there from different time periods.

“The common ground on all these subcultures, as disparate as they may appear on the surface, is the strength people find by being a part of it all.”

Lisa: The lineup of photographers at the exhibition looks great. How did you go about choosing the ten featured artists?
Jim: It was more about choosing the bodies of work, rather than the photographers. We did a lot of research for the show. As always, it could have been ten times larger and there are scenes we didn’t get to feature, but we wanted to try and demonstrate something of the breadth and diversity of British subculture, right up to present day. Some of the selections were easy, for instance we knew we wanted some skins in there and we already knew Gavin Watson’s work well. Some of them weren’t so immediately obvious. We knew we had to have something on grime in there – a scene that we maybe weren’t so personally involved in but one that has all the energy and importance that punk did.

Lisa: It’s in its subcultures that British youth have found strength and identify. Is this something you wanted the exhibition to celebrate?
Jim: Yes, absolutely. The common ground on all these subcultures, as disparate as they may appear on the surface, is the strength people find by being a part of it all. For all of them, simply being identified as a part of the scene is an act of defiance and rebellion. There’s a great flyer from the late 1950’s that relates to Ken Russell’s Teddy Girl images that we’re showing that reads, in big block letters, “Girls in Edwardian dress will not be admitted”, which basically translates to “Ted Girls not welcome”. You see that with punks, skins, mods, rockers, rudeboys, B-Boys and Girls, and right up to grime, as older generations struggle to come to terms with an immediate and explosive focus of energy by young people on language, style and music.

What we were really keen to explore was these common grounds, of which there are far more than we expected. On the surface, you might not think that punk and grime are similar but the approach and background to them are almost exactly the same. A disenfranchised group of young people making defiant music that celebrates where they’ve come from whilst sticking two fingers up.

Lisa: Do you have any advice for young photographers today who are not wanting to do what the generation before has done?
Jim: Just try not to get caught up in that whole ‘that’s already been done’ / ‘X did it first’ thing. You have to be taking photos of something you’re passionate about. Commit to it and live it. That can be anything; music, style, politics, art, people. Just work on the assumption that everything’s been done before and trust that your dedication, and your own personality will come through and make it unique.

Lisa: How important do you think it is to preserve the youth movements of today?
Jim: We’ve talked about this a fair bit in putting the exhibition together. I don’t think we should be preserving youth movements of today at all – they’re immediate and constantly shifting and evolving. If we try and preserve them, freeze them in time, then they become a museum piece. They should be documented though. Just as Gavin’s photos of skinheads in the 70s and 80s are photos he was taking of his mates, there’s got to be someone out there now taking photos of their mates in whatever scene they’re in.

Lisa: Do you have a favourite photo on display?
Jim: No! They’re all ace. I’m really pleased with how the presentation of the exhibition worked out. We decided to print one image from each photographers on vinyl, 2.5m tall, then hang the rest of their work over the top of it. This was a little risky (essentially layering photos on top of each other), but the end effect is exactly what we were after.

Lisa: Brighton Fringe Festival has over 970 events across 155 venues, growing rapidly each year. What’s the importance to you of being part of such a diverse and brilliant cultural scene?
Jim: I think Brighton Fringe is the second largest arts festival in the UK (behind Edinburgh)? That’s amazing. Ali and I both live in Brighton, so we know how the town changes come May – it’s  an exciting time! It’s great to be a part of that, and great to get the chance to see all the other exhibitions, gigs, theatre shows and tours going on. Kate Tempest (Brighton Festival guest director for 2017) even turned up to our launch after party.

Behind The Beat is on every weekend in May, 10am–6pm at Spectrum Photographic, Frederick Place, Brighton, BN1 4EA