Description

ID: A white photo book with a picture of a blue sky and a bright white solar flare on the cover, next to a silhoutte of a liver bird at the very top of the Liver Building. The title reads: “Liverpool: 30 Years On”.

‘Liverpool, 30 Years On’ features photographs of the city taken in 1986, and then again in 2016 by Paul Edwards. It shows how people and places have changed over time.

Paul, who was born in Wirral in 1967 began studying photography at Wirral Met College in the 1980s and became a successful photographer for several news and magazine outlets. In 1993, he moved to Edinburgh to pursue a career as a freelance photographer, where he still lives today.

When Paul was six years old, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which impacted his vision. He recalls:

“I began to receive laser treatment at 18, which ultimately saved sight and longevity but reduced my peripheral vision. Around 1998, I suffered large haemorrhages in my right eye and was left with only a small amount of peripheral vision. Undeterred from my work, I swapped eyes and continued. Most picture editors didn’t even know!”

He later developed problems with his left eye, and today, he is Registered Blind. He says that his very close vision remains very good in his left eye, and that “the point I can focus an image is precisely where, within my cameras, an image is formed.”

In 2016, Paul returned to Liverpool for the first time in many years, which led to him developing the ‘30 Years On’ photobook. He reflects on how the project came to be.

“I had always had a good sense of direction and familiarity of the city’s streets and landmarks which helps me. I was astonished; however, how much Liverpool has been transformed. I immediately started taking photographs and after the first visit returned twice more.

Whilst documenting the docks and people, I suddenly realised that the last time I had done exactly this- was when I was first studying in 1986- exactly 30 years ago. On my return home to Edinburgh, I began the long process of editing film that I had carefully stored since college, and with scanned negatives together with my recent work, began the enormous and thrilling project.”