Arthur Harris meets the young Punks

Taken by Arthur Harris - submitted by Darren ‘Rat’ Radburn

Arthur Harris:

“I tend to always carry a camera when I am out and this was just one of those occasions. I always photograph people I find interesting and these lads were there in Dudley. 

I’d just come up from Wolverhampton Street and I saw the lads across the way there… enjoying the attention they were drawing from people. So I approached them and had a little chat and all that and they agreed to pose just for a couple of photographs.

Sad thing is I was on the end of a roll of film. I just managed to get one and a half frames, but they were just great you know? Having a bit of a laugh and all the rest of it.

And I asked one of the lads to give me a bit of a grimace and he stuck his tongue out and ‘click’ that was it - end of the film, I couldn’t do anymore.

I have no problem communicating with people. Also I was lecturing in photography so I was used to talking to people. 

The punks of course; people tend to think well ‘aggression’. They wren’t aggressive at all, they were just youngsters having a great day out, enjoying the attention and it was just a sign of a particular time.

They were a great bunch of lads.That was a long time ago. I think it was 1980 - it was just at the end of the Punk era.”