Tracy van der Heiden tells Tim Hughes why the final week of a fascinating exhibition of photographs depicting Teddy girls and boys by Ken Russell is not to be missed

WE know him best as an iconic film director – the man behind such classics as Tommy, Women in Love and Tommy and The Devils – but Ken Russell was also a photographer, with a keen eye for detail. And one of the things that fascinated him most was youth culture – in particular the teddy boy scene of the 1950s.

This month, 50 of his pictures of Teddy boys and, most significantly, girls have been on show at The North Wall in Summertown.

The remarkable exhibition, called Teddy Girls & Boys, has been brought together for the first time as part of celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the arts centre at St Edward's School. Quite simply, the Teds have come to 'Teddies' – as the school is lovingly known.

And Teddies' Tracy van der Heiden urged people to come along and see the show in this, its final week.

"Not many people know that Ken Russell was a stills photographer before he became involved in film, so we are delighted to host an exhibition shedding light on this little-known area of his work," she says.

"The pictures were taken in post-war London. Soon after the war, Savile Row produced a flamboyant style of menswear known as the Edwardian style. The young Teddy Girls and Boys took the style and made it their own; working-class street fashion took its place in wider culture for the first time.

"For the girls, in particular, the new style of dress was a way of showing off their new-found independence and life outside the domestic scene."

The pictures show teddy girls and boys on London streets, at funfairs, at stage doors, leaning on graffiti-covered brick walls, on derelict East End bombsites and outside their famous haunt, the Seven Feathers Club where they did the popular Ted dance, The Creep.

Tracy adds: "The exhibition was the idea of our chairman, Mike Stanfield, who was aware of the collection owned by the agency TopFoto.

"Ken Russell is a celebrated filmmaker, but for us, there was the added excitement that bringing a show about Teddy Girls and Boys to Teddies seemed appropriate."

And, she says, we are lucky the pictures exist at all.

"The show is special because it almost didn’t happen!" she says.

"First, the photos lay undiscovered as part of a larger collection for 40 years, and then, once Alan Smith from TopFoto had discovered the pictures, and worked out that they were by the famous film director, Ken wanted to hang onto them.

"Alan Smith, a stickler for proper storage, insisted on retaining them at the agency for safe keeping. And thank goodness he did because Ken’s house burnt down a few weeks later.

"They’re also special because they document a time when a distinctive teenage culture was emerging for the first time."

Tracy says the exhibition, charting fledgling youth culture, is relevant to Teddies.

"Apart from the Teddy girls and boys at Teddies angle, it seems particularly appropriate to bring an exhibition about the first example of teenage culture to a teenage community.

"No doubt it will have had particular resonance for our pupils and all young people who have visited."

She goes on: "Anyone who’s interested in photography, portraiture, history, youth culture, or fashion will love it.

"We’ve had a huge number of visitors to the exhibition from far and wide, and it’s been really interesting chatting to different people and finding out why they’re interested in the Teddy girls and boys era.

"Some love the fashion, others are really interested in that period of history. Some visitors lived in the area of London at the same time the photographs were taken, and were excited to be reminded of how things used to be. There’s been a lot of nostalgia and reminiscing.

"We’ve even had some visitors who were Teddy girls and boys themselves!"

And, she encouraged the community to drop in and join the venue's celebrations. She says: "In 10 years, The North Wall has established its identity as a hugely respected arts centre. As a venue, we’ve proud to have brought touring theatre companies from around the UK (and the world!) here to Oxford. We’re able to give people a platform to express themselves and say what they want to say, and give audiences an opportunity to listen to some powerful stories.

"From the school’s point of view, The North Wall is a powerful and tangible link with our local community: one door opens into South Parade, and one into the school. At Teddies we place enormous value on meaningful links with the world beyond our perimeter."

  • Ken Russell’s Teddy Girls & Boys exhibition at the North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford, runs until Saturday. Admission is free.
  • Images copyright Ken Russell/Topfoto.co.uk