Matthew Murray - Signed 1st Edition - Ska - 2012
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Description from the seller
The people photographed by Murray follow Ska music and regularly visit Ska clubs, are not political, they just live for the music and quite simply love to dance.
Ska, is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, as a precursor to Rocksteady and Reggae music. In 1960 the first Ska record was cut and with the migration of many Jamaicans to the United Kingdom. Ska was picked up by many of the white working class kids when these West Indies immigrants moved into, then predominately, white neighbourhoods. By the late 1960s it became popular and driving force with the British Mod movement.
Both Jamaican ‘Rude boys’ and British ‘Skinheads’ were young and working class. Both blacks and whites who often worked in factories, both shaved their heads and wore big boots as a matter of necessity; the original skinheads were both black and white. Like the original Rude Boys, Skinheads dressed sharp when they went out, despite having no obvious source of income to support a clothes habit.
Whatever cultural differences young blacks and whites had, in the late 60s one thing they did share (other than style) was music: Reggae, Rock Steady, original Ska and Soul music were all on the menu. While political weather and media frenzy demonized skinheads, the 2Tone and Ska movement remembered what skinheads originally loved and focused strictly on the music and antiracism by example; Skinheads who followed ska were unlikely to be racist if they were fans of black music and integrated bands.
During this varied and influential spread of Ska music throughout British music and culture, over the past 60 years, a section of dedicated Ska followers stayed firmly true to its original roots. Not only in the music tunes, but also equally as important within Ska’s striking visual style, which has become key to this special and stylistically bloody-minded, elegant and self-believing movement.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
The people photographed by Murray follow Ska music and regularly visit Ska clubs, are not political, they just live for the music and quite simply love to dance.
Ska, is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, as a precursor to Rocksteady and Reggae music. In 1960 the first Ska record was cut and with the migration of many Jamaicans to the United Kingdom. Ska was picked up by many of the white working class kids when these West Indies immigrants moved into, then predominately, white neighbourhoods. By the late 1960s it became popular and driving force with the British Mod movement.
Both Jamaican ‘Rude boys’ and British ‘Skinheads’ were young and working class. Both blacks and whites who often worked in factories, both shaved their heads and wore big boots as a matter of necessity; the original skinheads were both black and white. Like the original Rude Boys, Skinheads dressed sharp when they went out, despite having no obvious source of income to support a clothes habit.
Whatever cultural differences young blacks and whites had, in the late 60s one thing they did share (other than style) was music: Reggae, Rock Steady, original Ska and Soul music were all on the menu. While political weather and media frenzy demonized skinheads, the 2Tone and Ska movement remembered what skinheads originally loved and focused strictly on the music and antiracism by example; Skinheads who followed ska were unlikely to be racist if they were fans of black music and integrated bands.
During this varied and influential spread of Ska music throughout British music and culture, over the past 60 years, a section of dedicated Ska followers stayed firmly true to its original roots. Not only in the music tunes, but also equally as important within Ska’s striking visual style, which has become key to this special and stylistically bloody-minded, elegant and self-believing movement.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Details
Number of books
1
Subject
Photography
Book title
Signed 1st Edition - Ska
Author/ Illustrator
Matthew Murray
Condition
As new
Publication year oldest item
2012
Height
22 cm
Edition
1st Edition
Width
24.5 cm
Language
English
Original language
Yes
Binding/ Material
Softback
Extras
Signed by author
Number of pages
42
