Northern Soul Nights
with Chloe Ackers
Finding the medium in her school days, photographer Chloe Ackers began shooting the indie bands she was growing up with. Enjoying the unpredictable nature of live music led Chloe to photograph the hot and sweaty Northern Soul nights that left her returning for more. Capturing the energy in the dance and the movements is a challenge that reinvents itself every weekend in new rooms up and down the country.
Interview by Esta Maffrett | 07.03.23
How did you get into photography?
I was at school, around 15 or 16. I picked up little toy film cameras and sort of enjoyed that as a different medium to work with and then it escalated through music. I had no musical talent but I really wanted to work in music and be around it a lot more. I’d go to indie gigs as a teenager and I figured out that you could go and take pictures at them while seeing all the bands you wanted to see. So I progressed through doing that, over time I went to less shows, shot less bands and got more into portrait work. I realised that was what I wanted to work with and the medium I enjoyed so went to study it at uni.
So music began as an inspiration for photography. Did photography push you to discover new music?
I think maybe less so now. I could say I came across the soul scene through photography, it led me to it and then I fell in love with it. But when I started I was very much a big indie kid and I was just interested in that genre. It was a lot of denim, Dr Martens, glitter and manchester.
When I got to unit I wanted to look deeper into subcultures and Northern Soul just stood out as one that linked back to where I grew up and it had that real mix of music and style, there’s a bit more depth to it that I wanted to photograph. I really loved it and wanted to throw myself into it. For my final major piece I wanted to specify in one area and really focus on it over a longer period of time, something that I would want to stick with and continue over time. The subculture hooked me and I loved it as a person that would just go to events rather than just going to photograph.
Why do you think Northern Soul has been so enduring as a subculture and continued to involve young people?
I think especially now, more so than ever, there are lots of young people coming up. There are loads of new nights popping up that are led by young people who are new to the scene. I think the music just has that hook to it and the lyrics resonate with everyone no matter what time it is and what you’re going through, there’s just something really heartfelt about it that you can relate to. Also it’s just such a great night, it’s uplifting and makes you feel great when you’re there. People really enjoy dancing to it even if they don’t necessarily know much about the scene. There are lots of nights where they’re playing the music although they’re not a traditional Northern Soul night but the music draws people in by making them feel good and what to dance. I think that’s why the scene has such a long history to it. It can become really addictive, very much living for the weekend.
How do you approach the challenge when you meet a really good dancer and you want to photograph them in a ways that captures the movement as you see it?
I feel like that’s one of the shots I’m still trying to nail. There are a few younger dancers that are so good and it’s so hard to do them justice. It’s a lot of focusing on trying to get the timing right, it’s the shot you keep coming back to and trying to get which makes you sit, watch and wait and keep on trying. I really enjoy it, It’s what I liked about photographing live bands when I first got into it, you couldn’t predict it. You get a couple of songs to do the best you can, it’s about the performance and you’re capturing it.
"I think the music just has that hook to it and the lyrics resonate with everyone no matter what time it is and what you’re going through, there’s just something really heartfelt about it that you can relate to."
Your two go to styles are dance and portraiture, what are the differences and similarities when shooting?
Dance gives you a chance to witness that person in their element and to capture those raw moments. The portrait sides of it gives you time away to talk to someone and get to know them a bit more and understand them. It gives you their backstory and slows down the pace between you both. You might shoot one roll of film but then chat for a few hours and have a nice walk around. It gives you that wider scope of why they enjoy the scene, the music and why they do. So the pace is really different but both are enjoyable.
When I started I was doing a lot of meeting someone on a night and then taking them to the studio to photograph. Meeting people through events and they would pass me onto other people who they knew were great dancers. I still see a lot of the people on nights out now and photograph them on the dance floor but a lot of my first interactions with people have been portrait sessions.
What are your favourite nights you’ve shot?
There was an old day that would happen twice a year at the Dome, sadly it hasn’t happened since COVID. That was always the best event because it was only twice a year and you’d always be looking forward to it and knew there would be loads of great people there. So many great dancers and record collectors, a great dance floor. There was another one in Rugby which everyone always said was so good and you had to go, for five years I said I'd go and never did until last month. It all made sense, I realised oh this is really good, probably one of the best ones.
From your time travelling the country for weekenders and all nighters, how would you summarise what it is that makes people travel so far to dance in all these different places?
You might be at one event in London and then go to Blackpool to find exactly the same people. It will usually be the same people in every room no matter where you are in the country which I love but it is a bit mad. It makes all the nights feel really nice and welcoming. But also each night has its own charm and the venue always plays a big part in it. Dancing in a massive ballroom with a spring floor in Blackpool has a completely different atmosphere to a tiny pub room that you might go to in London. I feel like it’s a religious experience, a passage that you take, the journey to these all nighters is an event in itself.
Do you think the younger groups setting up nights now are thinking about the role of the venue when they’re choosing where to run their nights?
I think so. A lot of them are in venues that are tailored to more subcultural nights or have a history behind them. Usually they go for the very seventies wooden panelling, small stage and red curtains that really suits the scene. Some fit the look and the aesthetic of the scene and some bring a new element or impact.
If you could put one object into the Museum of Youth Culture what would it be and why?
I’d say my denim jacket. Because I like a good denim jacket as weird as that sounds. I feel like it’s the core of your wardrobe and it travels with you everywhere, it goes through so much. It becomes a part of you and you customise it with patches that show your personality. I know my denim jacket personally because I grew up with it and still have it now, the patches would change depending on what music I was into at the time or where I was going. It lived with me and saw all the things I saw while I was growing.
