Photo exhibition celebrates 1985 youth

Photographs taken in 1985 of "dynamic" young people have gone on show in an exhibition.

The pictures were captured in Peterborough by photographer Russell Boyce, who was 23 at the time.

Titled New Town Youth 1985, it features various youth groups from the city.

Mr Boyce said of the pictures: "Some are hopeful and positive, some are tougher subjects like homelessness and unemployment."

It took a year to complete the photography project in 1985 and the exhibition at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery is the first time all the work has been shown together.

Mr Boyce said: "It was special for me because I was fresh out of college, I was desperate to shoot pictures in the community I was living in, and it offered so many different opportunities.

"Wherever I went there were great pictures to be had."

The photographer described 1985 as a "difficult" time.

"The job market was very tough in that era as well, Britain was coming out of a recession," he said.

Mr Boyce said the exhibition was called "New Town Youth" because Peterborough "was a new town, it had that feel about it".

"People were dynamic, engaged and wanted to get on with their lives," he said.

Since the exhibition opened he said he had received plenty of positive feedback and visitors were "intrigued by the haircuts" in the pictures.

The exhibition runs until 16 April at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.