Syd Shelton

Shelton was born in Pontefract in 1947. Having studied fine art in Yorkshire he began his photography practice in the early 1970s, following a move to Australia. In Sydney, Shelton worked as a freelance photo-journalist for newspapers such as Nation Review, The Age, and The Digger. In 1975 he had a solo exhibition of his photographs, Working Class Heroes at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op.

In 1976, Shelton returned to London and established the design and photography partnership Red Wedge Graphics' which evolved into the current agency Graphicsi. Shelton become one of the key activists in the movement Rock Against Racism (RAR). He was a photographer and one of the designers of the RAR magazine 'Temporary hoarding' which was published between 1976 and 1981. During the 1980s, as well as producing photographs for magazines and the press, and graphics for the public and private sector, Shelton co-edited, and was art director of, a series of photographic books that includes Day in the Life of London, and Ireland: A Week in the Life of a Nation.

He now lives in Hove, East Sussex.

• Rock Against Racism. London: Autograph ABP, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1899282180}}. Co-edited by Mark Sealy and Carol Tulloch. With an essay by Paul Gilroy.{{cite news|first1=Killian|last1=Fox|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Rock Against Racism: the Syd Shelton images that define an era|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/06/rock-against-racism-book-syd-shelton-clash|newspaper=The Observer|date=6 September 2015|issn=0029-7712|via=www.theguardian.com}}{{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Syd Shelton: Rock Against Racism book - The Wire|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/news/38524/syd-shelton_rock-against-racism-book|website=The Wire}}
• Rock Against Racism. Los Angeles: Rare Bird Books, 2023. {{ISBN|13:9781644282496}}. Co-edited by Mark Sealy and Carol Tulloch. With an essay by Paul Gilroy.*Syd Shelton, Red Saunders, Malcolm McGregor: A Day in the Life of London. Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1985, 288 pages, {{ISBN|978-0224029759}}.
• Syd Shelton, Red Saunders: Ireland: A Week in the Life of a Nation. Century Hutchinson, 1986, 288 pages, {{ISBN|9780712695183}}.
• The Falls. Fistful of Books, 2022. Edited by Simon Robinson.
• Stills from life. Unicorn, 2024. {{ISBN|9781916846326}}.

• Crowds 1977–1981. Southport: Café Royal, 2019. With a text by Tulloch. Edition of 250 copies. Later reprinted.
• West Belfast 1979. Southport: Café Royal, 2020. Edited by Craig Atkinson.
• Street Portraits. Southport: Café Royal, 2020. Edited by Atkinson.
• The Battle of Lewisham 1977. Southport: Café Royal, 2021. Edited by Atkinson.
• Street Portraits Two. Southport: Café Royal, 2021. Edited by Atkinson.
• Rock Against Racism-Live. Southport: Café Royal, 2022. Edited by Atkinson.
• Street Portraits Three. Southport: Café Royal, 2024. Edited by Atkinson.

• Syd Shelton: Rock Against Racism, curated by Mark Sealy and Carol Tulloch,{{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Loved the music, hated the bigots|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/loved-the-music-hated-the-bigots-7138621.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/loved-the-music-hated-the-bigots-7138621.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=19 July 2016|website=The Independent}} Autograph ABP, Rivington Place, London, 2015;{{cite web|first1=Eva|last1=Scherly|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Syd Shelton: Black & White, Unite & Fight|url=https://wsimag.com/art/18612-syd-shelton-black-and-white-unite-and-fight|date=14 December 2015|website=Wall Street International}}{{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Syd Shelton, Rock Against Racism, Autograph ABP, London|url=https://aestheticamagazine.com/rock-against-racism-autograph-abp-london/|website=Aesthetica Magazine}} Impressions Gallery, Bradford, 2016;{{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=BBC Arts - BBC Arts - Rock Against Racism: Syd Shelton on shooting a turning point in British culture|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3mqWP1hb4js6csjlbVHBLGh/rock-against-racism-syd-shelton-on-shooting-a-turning-point-in-british-culture|website=BBC}} Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, 2017;{{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Rock Against Racism exhibition uncovers an alternative history of subcultures|url=https://www.list.co.uk/article/88839-rock-against-racism-exhibition-uncovers-an-alternative-history-of-subcultures/|date=20 February 2017|website=The List}} Gallery Oldham, Oldham, 2020{{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Get ready to explore 'Rock Against Racism'|url=https://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/142/community-news/133025/get-ready-to-explore-rock-against-racism|publisher=Oldham Evening Chronicle}}

• Music Migrations (1962–1989), Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris, 2019–2020{{cite news|accessdate=2020-04-11|title=Immigration images: protest and partying in Paris and London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/feb/16/immigration-images-protest-and-partying-in-paris-and-london|newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 February 2019|issn=0261-3077}}
• Facing Britain – British documentary photography since the 1960s, Museum Goch, Germany, 2020{{cite news|access-date=2021-07-12|title=Facing Britain: documentary photography since the 1960s – in pictures|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/sep/07/facing-britain-documentary-photography-since-the-1960s-in-pictures|newspaper=The Guardian|date=7 September 2020|issn=0261-3077}}
• Stan Firm inna Inglan: Black Diaspora in London, 1960–70s, Tate Britain, London, 2016/2017{{cn|date=July 2023}}
• The Vanishing East End: 1970–1980s, Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, London, October 2021 – February 2022{{cn|date=July 2023}}
• The Black Triangle, Atlas Gallery, London, October–December 2022{{cn|date=June 2022}}
• I Just Want to be Me, Lucy Bell Gallery, St Leonards on Sea, October 2022 – January 2023 {{cn|date=January 2023}}
• In the Moment: The Art of Music Photography, Barbican Library, London, June–September 2023{{cn|date=July 2023}}
• Seen Not Heard, Atlas Gallery, London, October–June 2024{{cn|date=June 2024}}
• The 80s, Photographing Britain, Tate Britain, London, March–June 2025{{cn|date=June 2015}}
• Resistance, Turner Contemporary, Margate, March–June 2025{{cn|date=June 2015}}

Shelton's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• Tate, UK: 7 prints (as of April 2020) 4 prints (as of August 2021)
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London: 8 prints (as of April 2020){{cite web|accessdate=2020-04-09|title=Your Search Results|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?listing_type=imagetext&offset=0&limit=15&narrow=1&extrasearch=&q=syd+shelton&commit=Search&quality=0&objectnamesearch=&placesearch=&after=&before=&namesearch=&materialsearch=&mnsearch=&locationsearch=|website=collections.vam.ac.uk}}
• National Portrait Gallery, London: 2 prints (as of September 2021)
• Autograph ABP, London

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|www.sydshelton.net}}
• [https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/rock-against-racism-syd-sheltons-photographs-of-a-movement-in-1970s-britain/ "Rock Against Racism: Syd Shelton's photographs of a movement in 1970s Britain"], Katy Cowan, Creative Boom, 2017
• [https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/ywv3mb/how-punk-and-reggae-fought-back-against-racism-in-the-70show "Punk and reggae fought back against racism in the 70s"], Stuart Brumfitt, i-D, 2015

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Category:British photojournalists

Category:20th-century British photographers

Category:People from Pontefract

Category:Living people

Category:1947 births

Category:Photographers from Yorkshire