Paul Graham on the conquest of Thatcher's Nice Britain
In the early 1980s, Paul Graham photographed Dole offices across the UK. Originally self-published in 1985, he worked with Mack to republish the series for new audiences to see the work from a modern perspective
The last time we spoke to photographer Paul Graham in 2020, he was talking about the process of republishing his 1981 A1 series – The Great North Road with Mack and how he wanted to create a portrait of Britain back then. This month, Graham goes back in time when he re-releases Beyond Caring, a series filmed in the waiting rooms and corridors of social security and unemployment offices across the UK. While A1 is a joyful exploration of street cafe culture, Beyond Caring offers a glimpse into the harsh realities for many in the mid-1980s.
“It was pretty simple – I was unemployed and had to go to these offices to register and was shocked at the situation I saw there. It was like watching an accident in slow motion, ”says Graham of how the series began. “This was prime time for Margaret Thatcher, her struggle with the unions, and she used the stick of mass unemployment to achieve her goals. You can agree or disagree with these with the necessity of this conflict, but when you start to include faces, individual life in economic policy, it changes perspective. "
Above: Horse poster, DHSS office, Bristol, 1984. Above: DHSS Emergency Center, Elephant and Castle, South London, 1984. All images: Beyond Caring by Paul Graham (2021). Courtesy the artist and Mack
Originally self-published in 1985, many of the series' photographs were taken discreetly, often without looking through the lens, and this was because Graham was denied official permission to do the work. The distorted angles and confusing perspectives create a series of images that are overlaid with contrasts as they feel both intimate and distant, warm and cold.