Youth is a powerful force! Let us never forget that.

Youth is a powerful force! Let us never forget that.

When we are young we do shit just because we love it. Photography and perspective was what Gavin Watson loved and we will forever be grateful for it.

Thank FU*K he spent his £14 on the camera at his corner store then his days photographing the people he knew and the gangs they hung out with. His honest, fly on the wall style captured the true essence of what is like to be a kid. Documenting his friends and releasing cult classic books such as ‘SKINS’ Watson's work can be seen through an array of magazines in the music and fashion scene. Working along side musician Plan B, Fashion and punk icon DR Martins his work acts as a time capsule for the one of the world's most influential youth movements. 

 Youth culture has always been the catalyst for creativity, self expression and connecting communities. Gavin Watsons new, fascinating and unseen archive of his restored ‘Wycombe Skins’ images is clearly no exception to the rule.

 

Watsons images are a mesmerising force of honesty and humanity that celebrate the council estate days and the friends that he had; brought together by a love of ska, music and fashion. This collab with YOUTH CLUB (A not-for-profit organisation working to preserve and celebrate youth culture through a passionate network of photographers and creatives) works as an intimate portrait of British youth culture in the ’80s, captured from the inside. Gavin Watson's photos connect the past, present and future generations. 

The Oh! What Fun We Had book encapsulates his ability to capture the world around in a impeccably raw manner throwing you right back into your glory days. The days that are real, carefree, friend filled and often rife with adventure. Youth, It is something many of us don't appreciate when we have it and ironically, when we are old enough to understand it, it’s gone!  Leaving us to admire, reflect and envy the wild young ones we see.

The book is laid out as a collage and allows the viewer to discover the fun side of skins and punks, a side often overlooked in modern discourse around skinhead and punk culture.

We love that this book is a reminder that no matter how difficult life is; it shall also be fun.

 

“it’s not about politics, victim hood, poverty, just about the fun we had, the back then listening to madness being little kids just trying to find our way” - GAVIN WATSON

Purchase prints or Gavin Watsons books here


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