FROM a dining room at Butlin’s to a gang of punks hanging out in Camden, Cafe Royal Books captured life in post-war Britain in a series of remarkable photographs.
Café Royal Books was an independent publisher founded by Craig Atkinson in 2005, dedicated to post-war photography, with a particular interest in unseen or overlooked work from Britain and beyond.
An exhibition at Bradford’s Impressions Galley features the complete and most up to date display of the Café Royal Books archive.
Published weekly in an accessible and affordable zine format, the books chart a fascinating route through British social history. Now spanning 700 issues, Café Royal provides a large archive of documentary photography with historic significance, bringing the work of generations of photographers to new audiences.
Each book focuses on a single body of work by a single photographer. As a series, they provide a valuable resource into cultural and social change in Britain. Subjects are wide and varied - covering folk customs, protests, street photography, mining and industry, community and place or city, architectural change, music and youth culture, politics, and religion. They include images of the Greenham Common women’s peace camp, the Notting Hill Carnival, a seaside town steam fair, workers at the sewage plant at Esholt and street scenes in Bradford.
Many of the photographers published by Café Royal either had their first ever exhibition at Impressions - such as Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows - or have shown at the gallery, including Jo Spence, Chris Killip and Sophie Gerrard. There are also publications by acclaimed Eccleshill-born photographer Ian Beesley, who since the late 1970s has been documenting the changing social landscape of Bradford.
All 700 zines are available to browse, accompanied by printed posters on the gallery walls, highlighting the variety of photographs in the book series. The exhibition also showcases a specially curated collection of Daniel Meadows’ 1972 Butlin’s by the Sea photographs and Syd Shelton’s seminal Rock Against Racism series from the late 70s and early 80s.
Anne McNeill, Director of Impressions Gallery, says: “We are delighted to showcase this significant ever-growing resource. Café Royal Books is one of the most varied and accessible archives of contemporary British documentary photography. A number of photographers in the collection have documented Yorkshire or had their first major show at Impressions Gallery.
“I am very pleased to have worked with Craig Atkinson, curating a selection of photographs by Daniel Meadows which were originally displayed as part of Impressions inaugural exhibition back in November 1972, and Syd Shelton’s powerful Rock Against Racism images, serving as a timely reminder that we need to confront racist ideology.”
Based in Southport, Café Royal Books remains a family-run, independent publishing house. Its aim has always been to gather, uncover and make work accessible; producing utilitarian, affordable publications. It includes the work of photographers from all backgrounds - “the widely known, the unseen and the underrepresented”.
Cafe Royal titles are collected worldwide by museums, galleries, universities and institutions.
Founder Craig Atkinson says: “It’s a privilege to begin our 20th year celebrations at Impressions. “Our first 700 books on display offer a broad overview of life in Britain, Ireland and beyond, since the 1960s.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to share the work of the photographers we’ve published to a new audience - to turn a gallery of this size into a reading room is something special and reinforces the importance of the preservation of photographic archives.”
When the exhibition closes next month, all 700 publications will be added to Impressions Gallery’s archive, with plans to make them available for people to access in the future.
Craig Atkinson will be at Impressions Gallery on Saturday, October 12 from 3.30-4.30pm, talking about what led him to set up the archive of contemporary documentary photography. The talk will be followed by a drinks reception celebrating the work of Café Royal Books.
Also on Saturday, from 5-7pm, there’s a chance to meet both Craig and photographer Daniel Meadows.
These events are held as part of Impressions Gallery’s annual Photobook Fair, highlighting independent, non-mainstream, grassroots and self-published photobooks and zines.
* Impressions Gallery is a charity that helps ys understand the world through photography and acts as an agent for change. The gallery collaborates with photographers and organisations nationally and internationally to commission, exhibit and publish photography. Its work with new, emerging photographers and artists helps to build their careers. Established in 1972 as one of the first specialist photographic galleries in Europe, Impressions has grown to become one of the UK’s leading independent venues for contemporary photography. It works with local communities and young people to make photography accessible through education programmes. Impressions is funded by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation and supported by Bradford Council.
* Café Royal Books is at Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford, until November 30.
Opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Tel. (01274) 737843. Visit impressions-gallery.com and caferoyalbooks.com
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