{"id":3815,"date":"2026-02-09T14:33:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everydayphotography.org\/journal\/?p=3815"},"modified":"2026-02-16T09:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:06:11","slug":"who-are-these-people-who-inhabit-this-nocturnal-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everydayphotography.org\/journal\/who-are-these-people-who-inhabit-this-nocturnal-world","title":{"rendered":"Who are these people who inhabit this nocturnal world?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Capturing a night out in the 1950s and 1960s<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by David Ford<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first in a series of three essays exploring different aspects of vernacular photographs of nightlife. The images used in the essays are all from the author's own collection<\/a> and were acquired over the last twenty years from flea-markets, antique fairs and secondhand bookshops. Such photographs are increasingly hard to find as they are hidden in boxes of family and holiday snapshots which are now often seen as having no value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Photograph of couples drinking, 1950s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When flicking through piles of old photographs in flea-markets you sometimes come across one that makes you stop, either because of its unusual subject matter or the physical qualities of the image itself. What got me about this particular  photograph was the man sitting on the right side of the picture. He has one arm around a woman and the other holding a half empty glass. He is laughing into the camera, his face lit up with alcohol, his expression telling you he does not want the evening to end. It is an image of joy, of a love of life, and it moved me because in this man\u2019s face I saw a younger version of my own father. To me my father had always been the sober, middle-aged, family man I had grown up with, weighed down with work and responsibilities. But in this picture I saw him when he was young and it made me sad that I  had not known him then, nostalgic for the sociable, carefree side of him I had never experienced.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photograph was taken by one of the commercial photographers, known commonly as snappers, who worked in nightclubs, dancehalls, bars and restaurants in the 1950s and 1960s. These photographers would tour popular nightspots taking pictures of customers who could then buy a copy as a cheap souvenir of their night out.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these pictures look the same. They are small, black and white1<\/sup> and rectangular. They nearly all have a number stamped or written on the back2<\/sup> which identifies the relevant image on the roll of film so sitters could buy a print of it at the end of the night or the following day. Sometimes the name of the venue is superimposed on the photograph and occasionally the nightclub photographs are inserted into paper folders that advertise  the venue where they were taken.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Paper photograph folder for London nightclubs, 1960s, illustrator unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Paper photograph folder for Paris nightclub<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photographs adopt one of three poses and show couples or groups of sitters, never single people. The surroundings are hinted at but barely visible. The first and most common pose is the table shot.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, London, 1960s, Photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, Paris, 1950s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, Venice, August 1950, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightlife photograph, Berlin, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Oktoberfest, 1959, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here a couple or group of people sit behind a low table, covered with bottles and glasses, often lifting their drinks to the camera3<\/sup>. Behind them you can just make out the crowded bar or dance floor. The second is the line shot where a larger group of guests stand or sit in a line to have their picture taken.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Embassy Nightclub, Plymouth, Christmas Eve, 1954, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightlife photograph, 1950s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightlife photograph, UK, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, Italy, August 1965, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final pose shows couples dancing or embracing.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, Paris, 1950s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, London, 1960s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nightclub photograph, 1950s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Couples dancing, Italy, 1960s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all the pictures, the sitters look, and smile, at the camera. These are posed photographs, not candid shots caught by a hidden lens, although the aim was always to try and capture the excitement of a good night out. The pictures somehow manage to look both dated and immediate. The look of the sitters -  their clothes and their faces - place them in the fifties and sixties but their expressions remain fresh and full of life. The pictures sit somewhere between the formal portrait and the casual snapshot. They were taken in public places but are private mementos that were never intended to be displayed, even in the home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sitters present themselves to the camera. They are relaxed but determined to put their best face forward. The men have slicked back hair and wear ties and jackets. The women have their hair permed, their mouths ringed with lipstick. The faces are flushed with alcohol and flattened by the camera\u2019s flash. The pictures were souvenirs of a special night out. This was an occasion they wanted to remember. They were records of romance, of celebrations with friends and partners, aide memoires of nights on holiday. Things that seemed important at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Oktoberfest photograph, 1960s, photographer unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men who took these pictures4<\/sup> worked wherever people would be willing to pay for a memento of their visit whether this was summer holiday and ski resorts, on cruise ships, at festivals5<\/sup> or around tourist attractions in cities6<\/sup>. They would work the tourist sites during day and the restaurants, bars, dance halls and nightclubs at night. For most it was seasonal work, others moved around, following the crowds across the year or diversifying into other types of commercial photographic work7<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n