Comments on: Like you've never been away

Like you've never been away

ClanvidHorse — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:53:28 -0800

Photographer Paul Trevor has documented many aspects of British life during the course of his career. In 1975, he went to Liverpool as part of the 'Survival Programmes' project, that looked at inner city deprivation. He is putting on an exhibition of these photos as part of Liverpool's 2011 International Photography festival. 'The pictures were made in the city in 1975. I am very keen to find the people who I photographed then, with a view to possibly photographing them again.'

By: Bighappyfunhouse

Bighappyfunhouse — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:02:21 -0800

"Waking up from bad dreams and smoking cigarettes Cuddling a warm girl and smelling stale perfume A hot summers day and sticky black tarmac Feeding ducks in the park and wishing you were far away"

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:34:30 -0800

These are fantastic. So evocative. I was in Liverpool earlier this year, for nearly a week, and was surprised at how much I liked it, and how familiar it seemed. (Not that I expected to hate it, but I was amazed at my feeling of "Oh wow! Liverpool is *awesome*!) It reminds a lot of Baltimore - a port city, an industrial city, a city slowly climbing out of a kind of acidic urban decay. I saw so many construction cranes there that I wondered how there could be any left in the rest of the UK. Thanks for the post.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:00:24 -0800

These are fantastic. You beat me to those very words.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:49:18 -0800

The years of big kecks and no shirt. I must be about the same age as the kids in that first one and it all seems a bit familiar. Will look forward to seeing any follow-ups if the subjects do get in touch.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:53:46 -0800

Ooh, and this one would make a great peace poster.

By: Decani

Decani — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:03:23 -0800

Great pics, but why is it always the poor folk? Whenever I see these collections of gritty, grimy people living in gritty, grimy conditions I can't help feeling like it's a trip to the zoo for the better-off. And I say that as someone who came from the sort of background and place depicted in these photos. I realise that's definitely accentuating the negative but I do always get that slightly uncomfortable feeling. Maybe it's the memories the photos evoke that make me uncomfortable more than the pics themselves.

By: Major Tom

Major Tom — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:29:09 -0800

This is very strange. In 1975 I was 13 years old and living in Liverpool in these photos. Yesterday I was (I now realize) paying for the most expensive taxi ride in the world.

By: mippy

mippy — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 05:24:10 -0800

Oh, thanks for this - I meant to look this up when I heards abouyt it on the radio. Whenever I see these collections of gritty, grimy people living in gritty, grimy conditions I can't help feeling like it's a trip to the zoo for the better-off. I completely see what you mean - nothing worse than poverty tourism - but you'd be surprised how many people in this country don't believe this kind of deprivation exists. Someone once argued with me seriously that 'there's no such thing as child deprivation in this country - if someone's living 'below the breadline', that means they're starving, and that doesn't happen'; another friend from an affluent city said 'Families aren't badly off here, because there's working family tax credits.' A lot of people in the South have never visited Liverpool and think it's a city full of people in tracksuits stealing hubcaps (whatever those are) - same with Glasgow. It's sad, because both cities are similar, interesting places, with a big strong mix of working-classness and religion and Celticness and musical tradition.