Skins

In recent times, Britain and the rest of the world have faced an economic crisis, the worst since the depression in the 1930s. Economic downturns can often twister into high rates of unemployment. The working class (if they still exist) particularly struggle and habitually backlash. The skinhead and punk subcultures of the 1980s are mostly seen to be a bitter reminder of British hardships from the Thatcherite generation. But just as Hitler blamed the Jewish community for the depression, our working class 'society' wanted someone to blame too. The government? The rich in their BMW's? Or immigrants?

In the 80s, skins had given themselves a political role, often right winged and racist they believed it was their England and anyone who was in their way would face prosecution, from Margaret Thatcher to immigrants from Pakistan, it was their England - no one else's. They were nostalgic in their way of life, a set of values from the good old 'bad boy days' gives much of what passes for working class culture in the 1980s. This doesn't necessarily mean it should be sinister as there is the humour, the camaraderie, the sense of shared experience and hardships. Coronation Street, for me, draws some of its appeal from this kind of nostalgia. But nostalgia can also be dangerous. It's not always about singing the Okie Cokie and can sometimes lead to a group of skins chucking bricks through a shop window owned by a Pakistani.
Because, in the current climate of debate, the drive to preserve the boundaries of class through culture can dissolve too easily into a concern with race, with the myth that you have to be white to be British. After all, there are few Asian descent in Britain's pre-war working class communities and you don't often see black or brown faces on Coronation Street...

"Where's our culture? The British Culture? You wear a flag and everyone thinks you're a Nazi. The Skinheads are just wearing the flag because they are patriotic. What's wrong with being patriotic?....This is England. And they don't live here. They know nothing about it....they live in detached houses. Driving around in Rolls. Be honest. What are THEY going to know about US?"
Micky, an East-End Londoner, 1987

Racism will always exist. No matter how diverse our communities are or how rich our heritage is, people will always look for someone to blame. Maybe the skins have ditched their Doc Martens and would rather wear Nike than Ben Sherman but the racism is still there. It's a form of liberal scapegoating no less wrongheaded than 'reasoning' which converts every black boy into a mugger. This is what happens when a more or less racially comparable society become multi-racial are placed into a figure - the skin. In that way, it - the ugly fact of racism - becomes him, the skin. It has a name. It has a face. It's them, not us.

Models: Helena Chatterjea and Alex Prince

Location: Abandoned warehouse, Bury, Greater Manchester.