At the peak of the ‘Swinging Sixties’, Britain was just not all about Mary Quant, mini-skirts, pop music, fashion models, and fast cars. Much of the working class still lived in conditions of abject poverty, all over the UK. Photographer Nick Hedges went on a tour of the country, and he captured these images in London, Scotland, and the industrial cities in Yorkshire and Lancashire. You could be forgiven for thinking thay were taken during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
A depressed-looking woman holding her baby. There seems to be no joy in her life.
A young child in poor living conditions. It makes me wonder what happened to her later in life.
A mixed-race little girl clings to a woman who could be her mother or grandmother.
A woman using what passes for a kitchen in her house. It is situated on the landing between flights of stairs. Hard to believe this was taken in 1972.
All the children of one family sharing a bed with a single blanket.
A young woman with her baby, entering her slum dwelling in a run down area. Looks more like 1930, than 1970, and hard to believe anyone lives there.
This child holds a baby that she has been left to look after in awful conditions.
A young family living in one small room.
A run down area in a northern city in 1972.
At least this little girl looks happy. But the photo feels more like it was taken in 1940, instead of 1971.