Rave Archive
Lucy has been exhibiting her photographic archive of rave and club culture since 2015. Following the success of Lost in Music in Shoreditch, London, she has continued to work with the Museum of Youth Culture for over 10 years.
What makes Lucy’s archive particularly distinctive is that she began photographing the rave scene at just 16, while still studying photography at school. She attended clubs as a participant rather than as an accredited photographer, taking her camera with her on nights out and finding inventive ways to photograph the people and atmosphere around her.
Her photographs offer a firsthand perspective on 1990s British rave culture — documenting not only the clubs and music, but the people, fashion, identity and self-expression of the scene from within it. As a young photographer, Lucy developed creative ways of gaining access and encouraging people to engage with the camera. On occasions, she would even tell people she was working for Mixmag, a ruse that often resulted in more enthusiastic responses from her subjects.
Six of Lucy’s rave photographs were selected for Lost in Music, following more than 55,000 photographic submissions to the project. Her work has since been exhibited at venues including Carnaby Street and Corsica Studios, as well as in exhibitions in her hometown of Coventry.
What makes Lucy’s archive particularly distinctive is that she began photographing the rave scene at just 16, while still studying photography at school. She attended clubs as a participant rather than as an accredited photographer, taking her camera with her on nights out and finding inventive ways to photograph the people and atmosphere around her.
Her photographs offer a firsthand perspective on 1990s British rave culture — documenting not only the clubs and music, but the people, fashion, identity and self-expression of the scene from within it. As a young photographer, Lucy developed creative ways of gaining access and encouraging people to engage with the camera. On occasions, she would even tell people she was working for Mixmag, a ruse that often resulted in more enthusiastic responses from her subjects.
Six of Lucy’s rave photographs were selected for Lost in Music, following more than 55,000 photographic submissions to the project. Her work has since been exhibited at venues including Carnaby Street and Corsica Studios, as well as in exhibitions in her hometown of Coventry.