Like you've never been away
Photographs by Paul Trevor
13 May to 25 September 2011
Please note that this exhibition has now closed
In 1975 Paul Trevor came to Liverpool to document inner city deprivation for the 'Survival Programmes' project. His remarkable photographs told a different story however. Their backdrop may be the dereliction of post-war Liverpool. But these images went beyond this bleak cityscape and got close to his real subject: families and children.
This exhibition of Paul's direct and honest street photography showed life as it was lived in a community defiant in the face of poverty, unemployment and the state of their surroundings. He depicted a place where the streets and wastelands became playgrounds, the family was a constant, and where children seem fun-loving and free.
Paul returned to the same Liverpool communities in the summer of 2010. After a lively reunion with local residents, one said:
"Paul, it's like you've never been away!"
Find out more about the exhibition:
Video
Paul Trevor recorded this interview when he first brought the prints for the exhibition 'Like you've never been away' up to Liverpool.
Blogs
13 May
Imagine what it feels like. It’s Liverpool in the mid 1970s and you and your mates are still in school. A photographer moves into the area for a few months on his first job away from London to get some pictures of the area. Read more about It’s like he’s never been away
1 March
There seems to have been an explosion of interest in street photography in recent years. The ease and convenience of digital photography has meant that anyone can snap candid shots and share them on social media. Read more about Street photography in London and Liverpool
Look11 photography festival
This exhibition was part of Liverpool's first ever international photography festival, Look11. Further information is on the Look11 website.
Acknowledgements
National Museums Liverpool would like to thank the West Everton Community Council and Granby Toxteth Development Trust for their support and assistance.
Paul Trevor would like to thank Ian Boland for remembering, and sparking off the exhibition.
Paul would also like to thank Jenni Smith, Steve Joyce and Tom Groves, the team who printed the show, for their superb
collaboration.