What Liverpool Was Like in the Early '80s: Candid Photos by Scandalous Photojournalist Martin Parr (30 photos)

In the early 1980s, Liverpool hit rock bottom: the city's hardest times since the end of World War II.

In the 1970s, all of Britain faced economic hardship and job losses, but the situation in Liverpool by the early 1980s had reached its lowest ebb. Due to the closure of major industrial plants, the city recorded the highest unemployment rate in the country. Twelve thousand people left the once-thriving port city annually, leaving approximately 15% of its buildings empty or abandoned.

During those difficult times, the city attracted many renowned photographers with its depressing images of decline, but the renowned photojournalist Martin Parr was particularly active in photographing it, as he lived in that part of England at the time.





It was in the early 1980s that Martin Parr's signature style emerged—the kind that can leave an uninitiated viewer, spoiled by beautiful images, feeling like they're breaking their mold and making them gag. With a generous dose of mockery, Parr demonstrates all sides of reality, delighting in capturing the most unflattering, yet perfectly familiar and normal, scenes. Yet, there's no anger, arrogance, or contempt in Martin's work. Rather, it's the stance of a man resigned to his surroundings, yet honest.