Rebecca Zephyr Thomas Looks Back at Underage

Rebecca Zephyr Thomas, a New Zealand-born photographer, had moved to Shoreditch in 2004, poised and ready to capture the heyday of indie sleaze. Sympathetic to teenagers and understanding of their angst, she attended Underage Festival in 2007 and 2008 armed with an old Nikon camera, and shot a series of photographs which capture the spirit of teenagedom in the late 2000s. Dazed Digital speaks with Thomas about what it was like to capture Underage Festival on film, and the unique cultural zeitgeist of the late 2000s.

“To attend as an adult you had to either be friends with the organisers or part of the media covering the festival and even then it would have been fairly limited,” Thomas says. “I remember thinking the atmosphere was really nice as you could only find alcohol in very limited places, so there wasn’t that loud aggressive vibe that can come with booze. The atmosphere was more dreamy and upbeat and innocent.

“The festival goers that I shot all had a style that would have drawn me to walk over and ask to take their photo. I went for looks that I felt were expressing the wearer’s individuality, on a low budget … Shooting on film gives you a pause between taking the photo.”

Original article by Dazed Digital, June 30, 2023.

Photo by Rebecca Zephyr Thomas.