National Museums Liverpool Blog - Paul Trevor

Here, Matt Dunn, Membership Officer, shares his enjoyment of Paul Trevor's fantastic photography exhibition and talking to our members.  

Paul Trevor's photograph in Like you've never been away exhibition

On Thursday 12 May we welcomed our members to the Walker Art Gallery for the first special event of the new membership year – a look at the excellent new Paul Trevor exhibition, Like you’ve never been away.

Paul’s photographs of people in inner-city Liverpool were taken over six months in 1975. They have triggered a fascinating trip down memory lane for many who have seen them and Paul has even managed to track down a number of people whose photo he took all those years ago!

The exhibition opened to the public on 13 May as part of Light Night, but we were able to give our members a sneak preview the evening before and we were delighted that Paul Trevor joined us for the event. During an enthralling question and answer session with members, Paul gave a fascinating insight to the exhibition and shared stories with a captivated audience including myself!

As members made their way to the cafe for a cup of tea, I was able to speak to a few and was pleased that they had all thoroughly enjoyed the evening. One member, Cathy, noted that although the photos depicted a tough area of the city, all of the children looked to be happy and enjoying their freedom.

If you think that you would enjoy this sort of evening, why not become amember and help support the work of National Museums Liverpool at the same time? Give me a call on 0151 478 4157 and I’ll be happy to answer any questions. Alternatively, take a look at our membership web pages to find out more – we’re already looking forward to our next event at the new Museum of Liverpool so it’s a perfect time to join!

Ian Boland with Paul Trevor's photo of him and his friend in the kids' den

Over 30 years later you are invited to the Walker Art Gallery to see an exhibition featuring photographs of your old childhood friends and haunts taken by that stranger from London – who in the intervening years has become a successful photographer. Your name, your photograph and pictures of your friends are adorning the walls where great works of art, from Old Masters to the contemporary stars of the John Moores competition have previously hung.

It must be quite a lot to take in.

This is what happened to Ian Boland yesterday, when he was one of the first people to see Paul Trevor’s Look11 exhibition at the Walker, Like you’ve never been away. Ian was a key factor in kickstarting the idea for the exhibition, as he got in touch with Paul Trevor a few years ago to ask what had happened to his photographs from his time in Liverpool. Some of the photographs had been published in the book 'Survival Programmes' but most of them had never been seen by the public.

The two exchanged many emails and slowly started identifying the people in Paul’s pictures. This grew into the exhibition and a larger – and still ongoing – re-engagement project. Paul has tracked down many of the people by posting his Liverpool 1975 photos on Flickr, then found more through community events in Everton and Granby in summer 2010.

Ian’s part in the process is acknowledged with quotes in the exhibition. You can see Ian and others having a preview of their pictures in the Like you’ve never been away set on Flickr. Do come and see the exhibition yourself, which is open 6.30-10pm tonight for Light Night and continues until 25 September.

Cheshire Street, E2, 1986 © Paul Trevor. All rights reserved.

The Victorians it seems were just as interested in documenting life around them as we are now. I perhaps shouldn't have been surprised to have seen so many incredibly fresh shots by John Thomson – he was after all the photographer responsible for my favourite exhibition of last year, China through the lens 1868-1872 at the Maritime Museum. A pioneering photojournalist, his scenes such as the encounter between 'Hookey Alf' and a young girl are bursting with life and characters. There are also some remarkable shots by unknown amateur photographers on show, taken from albums in the museum’s collection.

The pictures show great changes over the years – men look identical in the early shots, with their smart suits, moustaches and hats, then slowly seem to develop their own identities. The equipment used to photograph them changed dramatically too and the exhibition has an interesting display of the 'tools of the trade' from early medium format cameras to an iPhone.

However it was interesting to see in the accompanying interviews that the In-Public photographer Matt Stuart prefers to use a film Leica camera for street photography, instead of the digital SLR he has for his commercial work. It seems that there is still a place for discreet small, quiet cameras out on the streets.

Another Leica user who is very well represented in the exhibition is Paul Trevor, who spent two decades documenting the area round Brick Lane where he lived. His obvious affection for and interest in the people around him shines through. This is possibly what helped him to make such strong connections with the people he met in Liverpool when he visited on a documentary project in 1975.

These connections were so strong that he felt compelled to return and track down the people he photographed 35 years later. It seemed a tall order but last summer he was reunited with many familiar faces when he visited Everton Community Centre. One of them commented "Paul, it’s like you’ve never been away" – a sentiment he liked so much that it became the title of his upcoming exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery.

I highly recommend a visit to the London Street Photography exhibition - and if you like Paul Trevor's Brick Lane photos then do come and see his Liverpool exhibition at the Walker in May.