Alternative Kids 1980 – We Met Again 2026

In the autumn of 1980, Sam Hill photographed young people in Preston town centre during his final year at art college.

John Davies, his photography lecturer, organised an exhibition to show the photographs at The Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool, February 1981.

During 2026, 46 years later through social media, he has managed to find over 40 of the people from the original photographs.
The 1980 and 2026 photographs will be displayed side by side in this new exhibition at The Harris.

Sam Hill writes…

‘I had a clear concept of what I wanted to achieve in 1980, to show young people in a good way, not violent or anti social, as with many of the pictures taken of punks around that time. These ‘kids’ were getting out of school uniform or work clothes, students just going around Preston town centre with their friends on a Saturday’.

‘Meeting so many of these people again has been an enriching experience, finding out where life has taken them, people who have worked hard for a living, musicians, artists and writers. A few are no longer with us, we will remember them with their families at the exhibition.’