Photographer Janette Beckman looks back at the 2 Tone and ska era through her images

British photographer Janette Beckman has selected black-and-white works that captured the UK music scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including 2 Tone ska acts, punk and new wave. The photographs appear in Beyond the Streets, an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London from 11 November to 5 May. The show explores six decades of graffiti, music, fashion, film and street culture. Beyond the Streets will also publish a book, Janette Beckman: Music, Style, Attitude (1976-1983), in 2027.

Musicians and fans

Beckman photographed bands such as the Specials, the Beat, the Selecter and UB40, as well as Paul Weller, Sade and Shane MacGowan of the Pogues. She worked for the weekly music paper Melody Maker, shooting two or three bands a week, and later for the magazine the Face. She says Melody Maker's chief photographer got the big rock band assignments, so she was given the new punk bands.

One image was taken at a Rock Against Racism concert in London's Brockwell Park in 1978, where Misty in Roots played to a crowd of more than 150,000. Beckman says the far-right National Front was on the rise at the time, and the free concerts brought together reggae and punk acts.

She also documented fans. In Coventry in 1980 she photographed a group of ska fans striking the pose Madness used on their One Step Beyond record cover. She also shot skinheads, mods and 2 Tone fans at the Loch Lomond festival, who were waiting for Bad Manners and the Jam to play.

How the work was made

Beckman recalls that there were no rules at the time and that people were making it up as they went along. In her words, there was a feeling that everyone was part of creating something brand new.