https://minersstrike.com/
Key images from one of Britain's most significant workers' struggles
The striking communities withstood unprecedented police brutality and travesties of justice in the courts. They endured poverty, hunger and media smears, and they held firm for a year.
The photographs in this book document that struggle. The men and women who captured these images decided from the start of the strike which side they were on.
They could have stood behind police lines and provided images that supported the government and mainstream media’s attempt to demonise the miners, their families and supporters as thugs, ‘bully boys’ or dinosaurs from a bygone age. The alternative was to stand with the miners on the picket lines and live with the strikers in their communities and record the reality of what was really going on.
The photographs in this book not only captured the reality of the strike but played an important role in encouraging the solidarity movement that sustained the action for a year.
The book brings together images, some of which have not been published in 40 years, and some which have never been published before. Despite the passage of time, these photographs remain relevant. They are not some gritty artifacts of a bygone era, to be remembered via an uncredited social media post or admired in a gallery.
They were taken by photographers who were absolutely committed to the miners, and their publication today is aimed at inspiring a new generation of activists to fight back and win.
Available in a limited edition (144 pages, 22×28 cms) from https://minersstrike.com/ or Bookmarks Bookshop in London
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