From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain

Questions and preconceptions around the meaning of ‘working class’ are explored and challenged in a new photography exhibition at Edinburgh gallery Stills. ‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ offers an intimate look at the nation.

‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’

The touring exhibition launched at London’s Hayward Gallery in 2024, its debut coinciding with the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (in 1989), an event that signalled the end of communism within Europe. Economist Francis Fukuyama wrote in the early 1990s that this marked the ‘end of history’, deeming Western liberal democracy as the only future for global politics. This exclamation inspired the title of the photography show, which invites viewers to question the theory.

Throughout the 1980s, divided views on Margaret Thatcher’s British government sparked vibrant counter-cultural artwork and creativity, often with a nod towards more communist ideologies. But what has become of the working-class creative over the past 36 years?

This exhibition aims to find out, taking a look through the lens of photographers who have captured a raw and honest narrative of their communities.

With over 120 works on display, images span from British writer and director Elaine Constantine spotlighting the Northern soul scene, to Rene Matic drawing upon community and love to capture a portrait of growing up mixed race in a white working-class community in Peterborough. Documentary photographer Kavi Pujara makes an ode to Leicester’s Hindu community, while social documentary photographer and writer JA Mortram displays imagery he has captured of marginalised people while working as a caregiver.

Featured artists include: Richard Billingham, Sam Blackwood, Serena Brown, Antony Cairns, Rob Clayton, Joanne Coates, Josh Cole, Artúr Čonka, Elaine Constantine, Natasha Edgington, Sandra George, Richard Grassick, Anna Magnowska, Rene Matic, JA Mortram, Kelly O’Brien, Eddie Otchere, Kavi Pujara, Khadija Saye, Chris Shaw, Trevor Smith, Ewen Spencer, Hannah Starkey, Igoris Taran, Nathaniel Telemaque, Barbara Wasiak and Tom Wood.

'After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024' is curated by Johny Pitts with Hayward Gallery Touring, and is on display at Edinburgh's Stills gallery from 21 March until 28 June 2025, stills.org