Chris Killip’s Anarcho-Punk Photography to be Exhibited at Blueprint in Falmouth

Published On: 10 September 2025Last Updated: 10 September 2025By CornishStuff

📷 The Station, 1985. © Chris Killip Photography Trust _ Magnum Photos, courtesy Martin Parr Foundation

A new exhibition showcasing rare photographs of the anarcho-punk movement by acclaimed photographer Chris Killip is coming to Falmouth this October.

Raw energy captured in 1985

The exhibition will be hosted at Blueprint, a gallery bar on Killigrew Street, from 1st to 31st October 2025. It will feature images taken at The Station, a music venue in Gateshead, in 1985.

These photographs capture the style, theatricality and raw energy of a counter-culture scene that grew under Thatcher’s government. Many of the images lay unseen for more than 30 years before being rediscovered by Chris’s son, filmmaker Matthew Killip, in 2016.

Chris recalled:

“In 1985 I was photographing nightlife venues in Newcastle when someone told me about The Station in Gateshead. I was amazed by the energy and feel of the place. It was totally different; run for and by the people who went there. I stopped going to other venues to photograph there on Saturday nights. Nobody ever asked me where I was from or even who I was. A thirty-nine year-old with cropped white hair who always wore a suit, as the jacket had pockets stitched inside of it to hold my 4×5” slides. With a big flatbed plate camera around my neck and a hefty Norman flash, with its outsized battery around my waist, I must have looked like something out of a 1950s B-movie or some rather oddball imitation of ‘Weegee the Famous’.”

📷The Station, 1985. © Chris Killip Photography Trust _ Magnum Photos, courtesy Martin Parr Foundation

The Station and its community

The Station was founded by The Gateshead Music Collective after their former venue faced closure. With support from community and youth workers, and funding from The Prince’s Trust, the group transformed the space into a rehearsal and performance venue.

Reflecting on the era, Chris said:

“1985 wasn’t a great time in Gateshead. It was after the miners’ strike and a lot of the punks at The Station were unemployed. This place, run as a very inclusive collective, was part of their identity in the way it affirmed their self-worth. As a venue it was unique, members of local bands, who weren’t playing that evening, were in the audience dancing.”

The set of poster prints being displayed at Blueprint was previously shown in the Tyne & Wear Music/Youth Collectivism exhibition at Newcastle Contemporary in 2023.

📷The Station, 1985. © Chris Killip Photography Trust _ Magnum Photos, courtesy Martin Parr Foundation

Blueprint brings it to Cornwall

Blueprint, which opened in 2024, has quickly become a space where art, music and nightlife meet. Founder and director Anthony Prothero said:

“It’s an absolute honour to have Chris Killip’s photographs on show at Blueprint — they’re as relevant and vital today as when they were first made, and I cannot wait to share them with the local community here in Falmouth.”

Located at 15A Killigrew Street, Blueprint is open Thursday to Saturday from 12:00 to 19:00, with free entry to the exhibition.