Riotous photos of posh Brits partying through the '80s

Riotous photos of posh Brits partying through the '80s
Cutting his teeth at high-society mag Tatler, Dafydd Jones spent the Thatcher years leaving his rundown sublet in London to photograph the ruling class running amok.

Established in 1709, Tatler was a stalwart of the old guard, faithfully chronicling the comings and goings of the British upper classes. Its fate was closely tied to that of the nation, falling into decline after World War II – until Tina Brown took over the editorship in June 1979.

Recognising the enduring allure of wealth and its discontents, Brown restored Britain’s oldest magazine to its former glory by devising a glossy that was equal parts glamour, romance, decadence, and impudence. Determined to tell stories that reflected the cross currents of the ruling class during the Thatcher years, Brown searched high and low for the perfect photographer.

While paging through the Sunday Times magazine in 1981, she happened upon the work of Dafydd Jones, who was finely attuned to the nuances of privilege and youth. Struck by his intuitive understanding of Britain’s Bright Young Things, she commissioned Jones to photograph then-Lady Diana Spencer at Sandown Park.

He returned with an eerily prescient photo of a young woman alone, the target of paparazzi whose relentless hunger would hound her until death. The photograph ran as a double page spread and marked the start of a collaboration that would span eight years and some 9,000 rolls of black and white film.

Top to bottom: Lucinda West and Olivier de Fallentons, James McMullen’s 30th birthday, Cliveden, 1986. Elizabeth Pulford being fed candyfloss. Cambridge University Charity Ball, Guildhall, 1985.

“The Tatler was run on a shoestring but had a buzzing office with an air of excitement,” Jones remembers. “I liked Tina because she was very direct, but more importantly because she hired me as an unknown young photographer. I moved to London to work for the magazine. I found a sublet room in a rundown house in an insalubrious area and yet would be going out in evening dress to glamorous parties.”

Learning on the job, Jones developed his signature style, blending charm, mayhem, and wit into a whirlwind tour of balls, regattas, hunts, polo matches and weddings. Now, Jones looks back one that pivotal era in the new book, England: The Last Hurrah (ACC Art Books).

With Jones crafting indelible images of generational wealth run amok, Tatler became emblematic of the legendary excesses of 1980s Britain. “At the time it felt like a world that had always been there and hadn’t really changed. What was new was that through the pictures in the magazine it was being revealed,” he says.

Newmarket Beagles Ball, Whitbread Brewery, April, 1989.

Jones quickly became an essential fixture on the scene, his sparkling images of mischief and debauchery welcomed by all. “I would walk around, looking, and photograph whatever and whoever stood out – anything that was happening,” he says.

Long before Nigella Lawson and Hugh Grant rose to fame, Jones photographed them for the magazine, recognising in them an innate star power. This sixth sense applied across industries.

“I have wondered now why at a party for 500 people, out of the 30 or so people I photographed, why did I select the young men that would later become England’s prime ministers?” Jones wonders. “Maybe they had a kind of charisma. Perhaps it was just luck.”

Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Follow Huck on Twitter and Instagram.

Latest on Huck

Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities
Photography

Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities

New exhibition, ‘Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography’ interrogates the use of photography as a tool of objectification and subjugation.

Written by: Miss Rosen

My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps
Photography

My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps

After a car crash that saw Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa hospitalised, his sister ran away from their home in South Africa. His new photobook, I Carry Her Photo With Me, documents his journey in search of her.

Written by: Lindokuhle Sobekwa

Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene
Photography

Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene

New photobook, ‘Epicly Later’d’ is a lucid survey of the early naughties New York skate scene and its party culture.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Did we create a generation of prudes?
Culture

Did we create a generation of prudes?

Has the crushing of ‘teen’ entertainment and our failure to represent the full breadth of adolescent experience produced generation Zzz? Emma Garland investigates.

Written by: Emma Garland

How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race
Photography

How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race

Photographer R. Perry Flowers documented the 2023 edition of the Winter Death Race and talked through the experience in Huck 81.

Written by: Josh Jones

An epic portrait of 20th Century America
Photography

An epic portrait of 20th Century America

‘Al Satterwhite: A Retrospective’ brings together scenes from this storied chapter of American life, when long form reportage was the hallmark of legacy media.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Sign up to our newsletter

Issue 81: The more than a game issue

Buy it now