A visual tribute to Sheffield’s underground music scene

Icons of the ’80s — Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, photographer Barbara Wasiak captured a city in a state of cultural and political flux – pairing shots of NME cover stars with anti-Poll Tax protests.

1987. Sheffield. In the ballroom of the City Hall, house and rare groove music pumps loudly from speakers. The over-capacity crowd dances, as sweat slides down the walls and drips from the ceiling. Barbara Wasiak weaves between the dancing bodies with a camera in hand, clicking away, capturing the elation and euphoria of those at club night Jive Turkey.

“She was a force of nature,” says Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder, fondly remembering his friend and collaborator who passed away in 2007. “She was combative, creative and confident.”

After a successful 2017 crowdfunding campaign, an exhibition of Wasiak’s work – Steel, Street, Synth & Shutter – is currently taking place at Sheffield’s Sensoria festival. The show was organised in collaboration with Jose Snook, her friend, collaborator and archivist.

Julie Stewart

 

Wasiak’s eye was a crucial one in Sheffield, capturing a city in a state of cultural and political flux. As the beat of Sheffield’s music scene grew louder throughout the ’80s, she was there to capture its bands and DJs, such as Chakk, Cabaret Voltaire, In the Nursery, Roisin Murphy, Krush, Winston and Parrot and Treebound Story.

Many of these artists stemmed from the burgeoning cultural forces in the city, such as FON Studios, Warp Records and Jive Turkey, all of which Barbara was a magnet to. “She wasn’t just archiving it all,” Stephen remembers. “She was in the centre of that maelstrom, she was part of it.”  Jive Turkey DJ Winston Hazel echoes this sentiment too: “she lived it and framed it.”   

Yorks Water

 

On top of immersing herself in the rising music scene of Sheffield during this key period, Wasiak also focused her lens on the city in a wider sense, capturing its architecture, people, politics and pulse. As a result, her work acts as a wide-angle snapshot of life in the city during these times. Jose remembers this impassioned and broad approach. “Barbara was very politically engaged and concerned about injustice at both a societal and personal level,” she says. “She was able to visualise, capture and communicate what a lot of people were thinking.”

Steel, Street, Synth & Shutter captures this breadth of her work and interests, which displays pictures of crumbling and evicted city centre housing blocks alongside anti-Poll Tax demonstrations, miners marches, and NME photoshoots. “She was really there in the thick of it,” remembers Jose. “And at a time that was of huge importance for Sheffield’s music and alternative culture scenes.”

Richard Kirk

 

She adds that displaying all elements of Barbara’s work in one place is important for remembering the work of her late friend, who worked for over three decades in the city. “What made her role so unique and crucial was the way she turned her lens upon the social and political context in which all this creativity flourished. Each generation has its own particular problems, issues and fears to contend with – for us there was the Cold War, high levels of youth unemployment, the decimation of the mining and steel industries and HIV.”

“It also seemed as if the Thatcher Government was intent on punishing the working classes and the North. All this pushed Barbara and others to make things happen for themselves. I think there was a sense of urgency and a will to try to make a difference. At the same time there was a lot of hedonism, and people partied and danced hard. I think Barbara captured all of this in her work.”

Dawn Shadforth and Roisin Murphy

DJ Winston and Parrott

No Time to Waste. Lady’s Bridge series, 2000-2004

Silk Cuts

DJ Box

Mark Brydon and Rob Gordon. Sheffield. 1987 for the NME.

 

Steel, Street, Synth & Shutter is a free exhibition and open daily until Oct 6 at Trafalgar Warehouse. 

Follow Daniel Dylan Wray on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

    


Ad

Latest on Huck

Crowd of silhouetted people at a nighttime event with colourful lighting and a bright spotlight on stage.
Music

Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists

We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.

Written by: Zahra Onsori

Indoor skate park with ramps, riders, and abstract architectural elements in blue, white, and black tones.
Sport

In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme

Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.

Written by: Zahra Onsori

Black-and-white image of two men in suits, with the text "EVERYTHING IS COMPUTER" in large bright yellow letters overlaying the image.
Culture

Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?

Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.

Written by: Emma Garland

A group of people, likely children, sitting around a table surrounded by various comic books, magazines, and plates of food.
© Michael Jang
Culture

How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography

The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Silhouette of person on horseback against orange sunset sky, with electricity pylon in foreground.
Culture

The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth

Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Couple sitting on ground in book-filled environment
Culture

The British intimacy of ‘the afters’

Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to stay informed from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, with personal takes on the state of media and pop culture in your inbox every month from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.