Chris Morphet established a career as a freelance in the 1960s. Although his work was diverse, he developed a particular focus on the music of the time, photographing such artists as The Animals, The Move, P J Proby and Jimi Hendrix. A little later, he worked with others, including the Sex Pistols, Madness and the Boomtown Rats, and moved into film-making, producing dozens of music videos, live concert recordings and documentaries. He went on to serve on the BAFTA Technical Jury for Cinematography Awards, a recognition of the industry’s respect for his technical and creative excellence. His work has had a lasting impact on the film and music industries both in the UK and internationally.
A new exhibition, “Allover”, at the Shetland Museum and Archives, takes us back more than 50 years to June 1970, when a photographer, Chris Morphet, was inspired to visit Shetland by Fair Isle knitwear he’d seen in London. His photographs of local people wearing traditional styles are displayed alongside jumpers and other examples of knitting from those days. It’s a remarkable and rewarding display.
However, his closest working relationship in the early days was with The Who, touring Germany with them: his portfolio portrays its members not only in concerts but also at home and on the road.
It was at one of these gigs, in London’s Marquee Club, that he saw Pete Townsend wearing a Fair Isle tank top. This was Chris’ first real encounter with Shetland knitwear and he was so intrigued by it that he decided to visit its source.
The images that emerged constitute a hugely impressive set of candid photographs but it’s much more than that. In 1970, neither Chris nor any of his subjects could have imagined the scale and complexity of the task that was to confront Shetland just two years later, when work began on preparations for the arrival of the oil industry. Thus, this collection forms a record of a Shetland in which such concerns remained, quite literally, beyond the horizon.
Shetland folk still make and wear traditional knitwear, and many children learn the skills. However, Chris’ photographs – and others of the time – demonstrate that, in the 1970s, the textile heritage was prominent – indeed ubiquitous – in every setting. There are photos of people in the street, at home and at work.
Many are of individuals but there are group shots, too and, in every case, they not only evoke the personalities of the subjects but also capture the spirit of the Shetland community, which Chris found welcoming, genuine and authentic.
Something else that’s noteworthy about these photographs is that they’re in colour, at a time when some other photographic essays – such as the wonderful collection published in book form by Tom Kidd – were presented in monochrome. Colour perhaps helps to underscore the timelessness of both the settings and the knitwear designs.
However, he also spent time elsewhere, including Lerwick and Whalsay, finding people willing to cooperate everywhere he went.
There’s more of his photography on the Getty Images website and you can hear him talk to BBC Radio Shetland’s Jane Moncrieff about his 1970 visit – and the “fantastic reception” he received – in this edition of 50 Minutes, broadcast in October 2018: listen from 39’ 50”.
He explains to Jane that the Shetland photographs had lain among thousands of other images for several decades, having last been seen in public in a British Airways flight magazine in 1971. He happened to come across them when his eldest daughter was helping to sort out his colour slide collection.
The exhibition does full justice to his work. As well as the many large prints on display, two projectors present a continuous loop of his work and, close to them, the sharp-eared will recognise a subtle soundtrack featuring The Who’s My Generation from 1965 as well as tunes released in 1970 by Christie, Mary Hopkin and Simon & Garfunkel.
All of this works beautifully - and is a great credit to the team who put it together - but the experience is made so much more complete by the carefully-selected examples of Shetland knitwear drawn from the Shetland Museum’s collection, which is comprehensive and is recognised as being of national significance. There are many examples of the skill of local knitters, whose talents extended not only to clothing but also to such items as tea and egg cup cosies.
Allover runs until Sunday 29 December and whether you live in Shetland or are visiting before then, it’s highly recommended.
Alastair Hamilton
Alastair Hamilton moved to Shetland in 1976. Until he retired, he worked for Shetland Islands Council, latterly as Head of Planning, and was also involved in economic development.