In the years following WWII, Britain faced a housing crisis. An estimated 500,000 homes had been destroyed during the conflict, with another half a million badly damaged. On top of this, many were privately rented slums, left over from 19th century ‘back-to-back’ houses, in desperate need of modernisation. The government’s ‘Homes for All’ scheme sought to rectify this, providing safe accommodation for returning soldiers and families displaced during the war. Between 1946 and 1951, 800,000 homes had been built, four out of five of which were council houses. But this rapid progress began to slow in 1980, when Margaret Thatcher implemented new restrictions on local authorities and introduced the ‘right to buy’, which allowed those living in council owned properties to buy it. By 1983, the number of social houses being built had halved to 44,000 and many of the temporary solutions brought in by the post-war government began to show signs of deterioration. It in this context that renowned photographer Peter Mitchell (b. 1943) began to document the city of Leeds. His work captures the people and places of the city as it rapidly changed throughout the latter half of the 20th century, and he would often photograph a shop front or a row of houses one week, only for them to disappear the next. Now, almost 50 years since his first exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery, Nothing Lasts Forever presents a retrospective on an impressive career and offers an intimate portrait of a city in flux.
Peter Mitchell’s first emerged as a photographer in the early 1970s. His work saw him quickly established as part of the scene which produced pioneering photographers such as Martin Parr and Tom Wood. There was a national cultural interest in this new style, and Mitchell pushed the boundaries of the form. His groundbreaking show A New Refutation of the Viking 4 Space Mission was shown at Impressions Gallery, York in 1979. It was the first colour show in a British photography gallery and combined Mitchell’s images with those taken of Mars by the Viking Landers. The exhibition imagined an alien had landed on Earth and is exploring the urban landscape with a degree of surprise and fascination. Martin Parr said: “This show was so far ahead of its time that no one know exactly what to say or how to react, apart from with total bewilderment.” Despite earning him recognition within the Leeds art scene, the show failed to lead to the notoriety some of Mitchell’s contemporaries were enjoying. It was not until 2016 that the full exhibition was shared at Rencontres d’Arles and received worldwide acclaim.
In 1978, Mitchell began his most iconic series. His explorations of Leeds had often taken him through the Quarry Hill estate, but he had never photographed it, until the first signs of demolition appeared. In an interview with The Guardian, Mitchell said: “I photograph dying buildings and Quarry Hill was terminal by the time I got to it. Times change and I know there was no point in keeping Quarry Hill flats. But what it stood for might have been worth keeping.” The flats had initially been built in 1938 and were the largest social housing project in the country at the time. Designed to incorporate the latest building techniques and ideas, the 13-block complex was made up of 1,000 flats, each with solid fuel ranges, electric lighting, and state of the art communal facilities. In its heyday, it was a beacon of what social housing could be. However, just four decades after they had been built the structure was plagued with problems and it was decided that the building should be demolished. It is at this moment, as the process of destroying Quarry Hills began, that Peter Mitchell decided to start taking his photographs. Inside the structure, abandoned furniture sits in otherwise empty rooms, placed on top of bare floorboards. Meanwhile, his photographs of the building’s exterior document it’s slow destruction. Shots taken at a distance highlight the scale of the project and, despite being devoid of people, somehow remind us of the number of families that called the flats home. In close up, he shows us the demolition process, the floral wallpaper of interiors starkly exposed to the elements. The photographs perfectly encapsulate what makes Mitchell’s work so unique, blending the personal and political stories that make up the city.
Mitchell has now been documenting Leeds for half a century and said: “Fifty-three years ago I left art college in London and never returned – such was the strange attraction of this Yorkshire city.” Nothing Lasts Forever foregrounds his lifelong love affair with the city, including not only an extensive collection of his striking photographs, but also personal ephemera and found objects that help to contextualise his close association with the city. The show itself is in Mitchell’s local area: “Not far from my house lies the Leeds Art Gallery now showing Nothing Lasts Forever. The exhibits range from tribes of scarecrows, the remains of a ghost train, weird railway signals and typography from distant shop windows.” Here, we can trace the story of the deeply personal affection one man has for his city, and the sweeping history of Leeds throughout half a century – both as compelling as the other.
Nothing Lasts Forever: Peter Mitchell is at Leeds Art Gallery until 6 October: https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
Francis Gavan, Ghost Train Ride, Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, Spring 1986 © Peter Mitchell.
Sir Yank’s Records (& Heavy Disco), 49 Gathorne Street, Leeds, Summer 1976 © Peter Mitchell.
Sir Yank’s Records (& Heavy Disco), 49 Gathorne Street, Leeds, Summer 1976 © Peter Mitchell.
Mr. and Mrs. Hudson, by the old Seacroft Chapel, York Road, Leeds, 1974 © Peter Mitchell.
