The 80s: Photographing Britain This is a new photography exhibition at Tate Britain which captures aspects of that decade and seems to suggest that everyone back then was in a state of angst, dissatisfaction and dispute. I remember it rather fondly but now it’s all history for a younger generation to view. An interesting show with 350 images to tell the story of Britain during those years.

We had the miners’ strike, race riots, poll tax riots, sky-high interest rates, poverty and loud fashion. Looking at the images from the eighties there are times when you wonder if the photograph might have been taken decades earlier, especially when the subject is poverty or inequality.

I guess, the eighties were the last decade when photography was done the ‘old-school’ way, before the digital revolution really took hold and we all started recording life on our phones. Still, I’m impressed to see how many photographers found a way to enter the most personal of moments in people’s lives and record important or incidental events – and all in black and white too. There were some excellent portraits too.

The galleries and walls with photographs in colour have a completely different atmosphere. There’s a richness, thanks to the colour, but sometimes there’s a feeling that the image is contrived even though you know that it’s the moment when the photographer saw a small event and captured it.

I was mainly drawn to the photographs of people but there were some striking images of landscapes too. I liked the sad collection of still-life images of beauty spots which have been ruined by pollution or fly tipping. And there was something about that photograph of the road with red paint taken in Ulster which captivated me.