This is what 30 years of British counterculture looks like

Exist to Resist — Matthew Smith has spent three decades documenting street culture at its rawest, from rural raves to political protests, in the face of police pressure.

Matthew Smith can pinpoint the moment he decided to become a photographer.

He was sitting in a workshop on politics and communications when a guest lecturer produced some raw footage of the Stonehenge festival in 1985.

The screen flashed with images of police smashing in bus windows, pulling people through the broken glass, abusing and threatening the festival-goers – even pregnant women and children.

At the Mother Free Festival at Bridgwater Bay, 1995.

At the Mother Free Festival at Bridgwater Bay, 1995.


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