Poignant Photos of Liverpool in the 1980s

   
The 1980s were a time of turmoil and upheaval for Liverpool. Unemployment and economic instability led to widespread disquiet, culminating in public shows of resistance such as the 1981 Toxteth Riots. Liverpool also elected its first Labour council in 1983, who promised to stand up for what they saw as unjust cuts under the Thatcher government. 
 
However, the people of Liverpool were strong in the face of this upheaval, and glimpses of light can be found in dark times. As the official photographer for the Militant, Sinclair’s stunning images show a city that refused to lie down in the face of adversity. 
 
Dave Sinclair was born in 1959 in Walton, Liverpool. By 1980, he was studying Art at Liverpool Polytechnic, where he developed an interest in the Liverpool urban landscape. Surrounded by derelict factories and docks, Dave started documenting his surroundings, processing and printing in black and white in a darkroom he built himself. He soon realised that photography was what he wanted to do for a living. His photographs have been featured in several exhibitions, including ‘The Dockers’ which was exhibited in London Liverpool and extensively abroad, The ‘School Student Strike’ at the Bluecoat in Liverpool and ‘Thatcher, Liverpool and the 80s’ in Shoreditch.
 
‘Liverpool in the 1980s’ pays tribute to the constancy of the Liverpudlian spirit. From citywide protests to intimate portraits, this volume is a unique insight into the recent history of one of Britain’s most inspirational cities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Athol St

 
Back of Great Homer St

 
Berni Inn, Pier Head

 
Birds Eye, Kirkby

 
Birkenhead Kwik Save and Iceland

 
Birkenhead

 
Boys on Grifters, Vauxhall

 
Boys on rubble

 
Boys with loaves

 
Braddocks swing

 
Car boot sale

 
Chucking rock in Leeds Liverpool Canal

 
Church Rd, Walton

Claudia St

Coal collector, Formby

Cortina and Capri on Love Lane

Croxteth

Demolished flats, Vauxhall

 
Dingle footy

Dingle gas, Grafton Street

Everton Brow

Everton council flats

Everton park

 
Five Vauxhall kids

Fontenoy Gardens

Four boys on Beetle, Vauxhall Rd area

 
Granby St

 
Gypsy kids on the Dock Road

 
Kid in Belmont Rd flea market

Leeds Liverpool Canal

Lightbody St

Liverpool Town Centre

Mk3 Cortina outside the Merseybeat, Dingle

 
Mobi in Kirkby

Mobile shop, Croxteth

Nine Dingle lads

Old cars off Scotty

People's Festival

 
Piggeries shortly before demolition

 
Piggeries

Queens Arms, Old Swan

Radcliffe estate

 
Radio 1 at Pier Head

 
Sefton Park pirate ship

Shipbreaking at Garston

Six boys on rubble

St Anthony's on Scotty Rd

St Georges, Everton

St Oswalds, Old Swan

The Flying Picket

Trinity Vaults on the corner of Athol St and Latimer St

Two boys at Bronte

Two kids smiling

Vauxhall Rd

 
Walton