The legendary British photographer Derek Ridgers is renowned for his gritty work documenting London youth culture, with a focus on alternative clubs and the outré ensembles worn by people who frequented them. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was the punk and Blitz Kid movements that were his subjects, often snapped on a second-hand Nikkormat camera, the flash attached via a makeshift bracket.
He would also visit fetish clubs, documenting Soho’s latex-clad underbelly. During this era, Ridgers developed a friendship with musician Nick Cave, whose raven mane, enticingly pallid complexion, slick suiting and patterned shirts unbuttoned to the extreme would go on to become a long-standing subject of his portraiture. This month, limited-edition publisher Burning Book Press releases a book of his work entitled …grace.
