The touring group, unlawful raves and anti-war protests: Images exhibition reveals insider’s view of the subcultures that formed the UK

Alan Lodge isn’t only a photojournalist with a selected give attention to British subcultures. He’s lived them.

Leaving a steady profession on the London Ambulance Service to hitch the touring group, he roamed the nation with household and mates in previous caravans and buses, experiencing the heyday of the free competition “circuit.”

Since then, he’s performed an energetic function in most of the outstanding counterculture and socio-environmental actions – from land rights and anti-war protests to LGBTQ+ Pride – all with a digicam in hand.

Now, Nottingham Trent University – the place Lodge studied images – will exhibit his pictures.

Alan Lodge: Common Grounds: Counterculture & Confrontation Since 1976 will inform the story of how actions past mainstream society have helped form the UK’s cultural and social panorama in the present day.

Featuring round 80 images alongside 35mm slide projections, shifting pictures and private archives, the exhibition sheds a uncommon, insider’s gentle on these occasions.

On display will be frames that Lodge took at what became known as the Battle of the Beanfield.

In the summer of 1985, the photojournalist joined the Peace Convoy on its annual journey to Stonehenge, seeing first-hand the now-infamous clashes between the police and travelers.

The “battle” resulted in one of the most violent mass arrests in British history, with prominent eyewitness accounts describing “extreme” police brutality.

Lodge began his studies in Nottingham in 1990, becoming involved with the city’s influential house music collective known as the DIY Sound System.

Two years later, he went on to shoot what are now considered his most influential images of ravers at Castlemorton Common in Wiltshire. The 1992 event is widely regarded as the largest illegal rave in British history and prompted the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994.

Alan Lodge: Common Grounds: Counterculture & Confrontation Since 1976 runs from September 25 to December 12 at Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University. The exhibition will launch the night earlier than, on Thursday September 24, from 18:00-20:00. Entry is free for all.

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