Nick Hedges was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in 1943. He studied photography at Birmingham College of Art from 1965 to 1968, and as a final project he worked with Birmingham Housing Trust on an exhibition about the city’s badly housed.On leaving college, Shelter employed Hedges to document the oppressive and abject living conditions being experienced in poor quality housing in the UK. On his visits to cities including Glasgow, Salford, Bradford, Liverpool and Newcastle, Hedges captured astonishing scenes of families negotiating life in slums. In Hedges’ belief, photographers should work on projects to support the reformation and improvement of society, and through his photographs, he hoped to help raise consciousness about the extent of unfit living conditions.
Living accommodation hostel for the homeless, Dartmouth Park, 1969
In a hostel for the homeless Dartmouth Park, 1969
Child playing in the courtyard of a homeless hostel, London, 1969
Doorstep conversation, Brent, 1969
Dormitory of hostel for the homeless, Dartmouth Park, 1969
Dormitory of hostel for the homeless, Dartmouth Park, 1969
Children gossiping on the roof of their tenement block, Wandsworth, 1969
Children gossiping on the roof of their tenement block, Wandsworth, 1969
Mother and son in foul kitchen basement, Battersea, 1970
An elderly pensioner living in a damp basement flat, South London, 1970
An elderly pensioner living in a damp basement flat, South London, 1970
An elderly pensioner living in a damp basement flat, South London, 1970
Living in a single room, North London, 1970
Child on balcony of her tenement block, Southwark, 1970
Child dreaming on balcony of her tenement block, Southwark, 1970
Kitchen of a basement flat, Wandsworth, 1970
Lambeth, 1970
Elderly single man in his basement flat, Lambeth, 1970
Elderly single man in his basement flat, Lambeth, 1970
Courtyard of Chaucer House Hostel for the Homeless, South London, 1971
Courtyard of Chaucer House Hostel for the Homeless, South London, 1971
Mother, child, and kitten living in slum property, North London, 1971
Mother and toddler living in overcrowded housing, South London, 1971
Father and child in a hostel for the homeless, London, 1971
Mother and her children living in temporary accommodation, South London, 1971
Single mum living in a single room, Notting Hill, 1972
Single mum living in a single room, Notting Hill, 1972
Kitchen on a Brixton staircase, London, 1972
Mother living in one bedroom flat, Tottenham, 1972
Single mum living in one room, Tottenham, 1972
Single mum living in one room, Tottenham, 1972
Mother and daughter living in poor housing, Brixton, 1972
Married couple and family living in overcrowded flat, South London, 1972
Young family living in one room, South London, 1972
