Nowadays, if a school teacher insisted on taking lots of unofficial photographs of all the kids at school he would (at best) be looked on with some suspicion. This hasn’t always been the case though – thank goodness – let me introduce you to George Plemper.

To the south east of London lies the new town of Thamesmead – built on reclaimed marshland, it consists of a huge, brutalist sink-estate, created to house the working-classes (if you’re UK-based and have ever watched ‘Misfits‘ on E4 – this is set in Thamesmead). This experiment in social housing meant that it was a community in isolation, even though they were just a few miles from London – the Riverside School must have been one of the few social hubs available there.

At this school is George – a young teacher. It’s 1978 and he’s got his first job teaching science. He introduces photography as a way of engaging with pupils and demonstrating ideas – and at the same time takes portraits of the children.

For a good 30 years the photos followed George through various house moves, mouldering in carrier bags. Then, with the emergence of photo-sharing websites and an urge to make available his social record of a now by-gone era, he uploaded all these wonderful faces to flickr for us all to see.

I wish I could put my finger on what makes these images so totally amazing. It’s simply incredible looking at those teenage faces full of hope, happiness, sadness, worry, joy and puzzlement – they are haunting and wonderful.

Having our photos taken is a common, almost daily occurrence for us nowadays – back then though, to have a formal photograph taken which wasn’t for a special occasion must have been very much out of the ordinary – which is one of the reasons these vignettes of everyday teenage life seem so emotive, so very compelling.

When I look at them I feel we haven’t changed at all and at the same time are so totally, totally different. And it’s all there to see in black and white. An amazing legacy. Thank you George!

All photographs in this article are © George Plemper

Check out George Plemper’s flickr photostream where you can see the full collection of Thamesmead photos – many of the images have details about who is in the photo and why it was taken and some of the the children in the photos have recognised themselves and left comments!

So lazy in fact that these photos aren’t even by me, they are by some super-talented film photographers over on flickr – do check out their links below because they are awesome!

I chose these images because they feel very Sundayish…

1. Roses, 2. it’s been some time…, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. quiet days at home, 6. at the pub, 7. Life is hard when you have a lamp as a tail, 8. Veggie Sunday roast, 9. Master and Commander

I was doing research for something I’m writing and stumbled across this GEM!

It actually made me feel a little teary – it’s a beautiful film and should be of interest whether you’re a film aficionado or not…

(PS – for those reading via RSS – if the video isn’t showing, checkout my main website).

I am very excited as I’ve just booked a holiday in the Lake District for next month! I’ve never been there before and I’m really looking forward to the break.

I don’t know if you know the area at all but it’s notorious for raining all the time. In a country where it rains all the time this means I am more than likely going to get wet!

Rain is OK with me. I quite like the idea of capturing a damp and liquidy landscape of mountains* and lakes, it’s all part of the experience. Who knows, we might get lucky and catch a break in the clouds, and I’m told when the sun does come out it is the most heavenly place on earth – that’s got to be worth a gamble, hasn’t it?

Here are some photos that have been inspiring me lately on flickr – if mine turn put a quarter as good as these then I will be very happy!

1. hill, 2. Buttermere – Fleetwith Pike, 3. castlerigg, 4. Bassenthwaite Lake, 5. Afternoon Tea, 6. Your cold eyes., 7. Wastwater Landscape, 8. Lake Windermere, 9. hey, I’m looking at you

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and start shopping for waterproof clothing and deciding what cameras to take…

*I know they aren’t technically mountains, just big hills, but I come from the relatively flattened out south coast – and at best our hills are ‘rolling’.

It’s finally feeling a lot more like summer (i.e. it’s not raining and a degree or two warmer) but there’s definitely an air of late-summer now, don’t you think?

What really helps me to get to sleep at night is watching videos on YouTube on my phone – this one by Lisa Eldridge is amazing, she really knows her stuff when it comes to make-up…

When I’m not watching videos I’m reading. I’m currently half-way through How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran on my Kindle at the moment, it’s amazing and I would thoroughly recommend it if you are a woman or know a woman (so… everybody). When I tweeted/facebooked about this book I got quite a few comments saying ‘is that you on the cover’? I take this as a huge compliment! (And no, it’s not. Although I am now toying with the idea of a white streak in my hair because it looks kinda cool – what do you think)?

Oh, I have found a fabulous website called Portroids, do you know it? It’s basically a collection of Polaroid portraits which are then signed straight after they’re taken- there are SO many famous faces there, here are two that caught my eye…

And finally, the ever inspiring Susannah Conway is once more organising the August Break for us all to join in with – hooray! It’s simplicity itself to join in, so please do, the more the merrier! Post one photo a day to the flickr group. That’s it. Easy huh? And there really are no rules so if you can only manage one or two a week, then that’s perfectly fine! It’s a very gentle and pressure-free way of collaborating and sharing (and a good excuse from blogging with words for a month if you so choose). Give it a go, I dare you!