Vanley Burke

'Toxteth, not Croxteth'
This image from Dr Vanley Burke is another that leapt out at me. The Birmingham-based photographer regularly visited the black community in Liverpool. The images he produced show a city that had not changed significantly since the war, in much need of investment, and in many ways ostracised from the wider country as well as being divided within itself, problems that culminated in the media-dubbed ‘Toxteth Riots’ of 1981. Burke captures a city of grafitti, one where jumble sales take place on old bomb sites and a dog chews on a brick, yet also a city where the spirit of community shines through in street festivals. Taken in Croxteth in 1980, this image has the feel of an old Nike advertising campaign, or one of a similar ilk. I love the composition of the photo, and the energy it has, not just from the jogger, but from the buildings and the landscape that make up the majority of the image.