CHRIS STEELE-PERKINS 
& RICHARD SMITH

Sadly, Chris Steele-Perkins died on September 8th.

I first worked with Chris back in 1989 on The Pleasure Principle, which I published while I was running Cornerhouse in Manchester.  The last book we did together was in 2019, his enormous project The New Londoners, documenting diversity and migration in London.

Over that 30 year period we also republished his 1979 classic book, The Teds, and his beautiful, A Place in the Country, documenting a year in the life of an English country estate.  Chris was always such a great pleasure to work with and I learned so much from him. He'll be greatly missed not only by his family and friends but also by the very many people who only knew him through his wonderful work.

1956, sixty years ago, was a watershed year for Teds. In September that year the Bill Haley film Rock Around The Clock arrived in the UK. With five records in the top twenty, Haley was a major star and the film screened at some three hundred cinemas across the country. It wasn’t long before the riots started. At London’s Elephant and Castle Trocadero seats were slashed, and when the police attempted to disperse a throng of jiving, singing teenagers, bottles and fireworks were thrown; four shop windows were smashed. Two police were injured and nine Teds arrested. There was further trouble in many other cities including Manchester and London whilst in Birmingham, Blackpool, and Belfast the film was banned.

Whilst the appearance of Teds can be traced back a couple of years earlier, 1956 was the true ’Year of The Ted’ – the year in which they became central to youth culture in the UK and could no longer be ignored.

Originally published in 1979 The Teds looks at this phenomenon. A classic of British documentary photography, it is a vivid and absorbing book combining image and text to tell a fascinating story that spans some three decades.

Chris Steele-Perkins joined Magnum Photos in 1979. An award-winning photographer, he exhibits regularly throughout the world and continues to publish in major magazines worldwide. Alongside extensive work in the developing world he has continued to document Britain, with his 40 year overview, England, my England, being published in 2009 and A Place in the Country, his tenth book, which was published by Dewi Lewis in 2014. 

ISBN: 978-1-911306-05-4
Hardback, 128 pages
72 duotone photographs
290mm x 220mm

SEE ALSO
A Place In The Country
The New Londoners