LINDEN ARCHIVES — Stuart Linden Rhodes

Synopsis:
 
LINDEN ARCHIVES is a strictly limited edition, selected archival work capturing the 1990s LGBTQ+ club, pub and Pride scene across the UK, from Brighton to Newcastle — with excursions to Berlin and Gran Canaria. Celebratory in tone, it is the second publication by photographer Stuart Linden Rhodes (following on from ‘Out & About with Linden: A Queer Archive of the North’, 2022/3).
 
A large-format photobook that seeks to encapsulate a peoples defiant in the face of the AIDS crises and discriminatory laws. Included in this work are many images that have fallen foul of Instagram's unjustly censorious algorithm — alongside uninhibited photographs of Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Derek Jarman, Take That, Julian Clary, Peter Tatchell, Paul O'Grady, East 17 and many more. We're delighted that Russell Tovey has provided an introductory preface to the work.
 
'Linden' was the roving reporter for APN and the Gay Times during the early to mid 1990s, his columns for those magazines were entitled: Out & About with Linden. Stuart Linden Rhodes was also a lecturer at a local further education college, the pseudonym 'Linden' adopted due to concerns generated by draconian Clause 28 legislation sanctioned by Tory governments of the era. At home in North Yorkshire during the 'rona lockdowns of 2020-21, Stuart established the Linden Archives online as a way to preserve his work and look back fondly on the brash, thriving gay scene of the 1990s.

More recently, his photography has featured on BBC television & radio and in Mastermind Magazine, Crotch, The Guardian, You Otter Know and Photography – A Queer History. Imagery from the archives have been exhibited at the Grundy Art Gallery, Queer Britain, Moray Pride, Vane Gallery and the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum as part of the Museum of Youth Culture. In November 2024, three of Stuart's pieces were added to Manchester Art Gallery's permenant collection.
 
 
Praise for Linden Archives:
 
"Linden’s archival images changed lives. This book is a friend who takes you by the hand and leads you into an incredible party, you’re on the guest list and you are absolutely fucking welcome."
Russell Tovey — actor and writer, co-creator of Talk Art
 
"I have followed Stuart's work for many years and his fascinating first-person photographic reflections of life in the 1990s queer spaces are a snapshot of such an important time in our culture. Linden Archives is a great read, I love how looking at the images makes me feel strangely safe. I was not yet out as a young gay boy living in a small town in the 90s, but Stuart's pictures give me a sense of peace. Knowing, in hindsight, that despite the fact that I felt quite alone during those years there were people thriving and living their best lives. It's a gorgeous, nostalgic collection that makes me smile with every page turn. Thank you for collecting such an important archive Stuart."
Owain Wyn Evans — broadcaster and drummer
 
"Stuart Linden Rhodes' queer photographic portraiture of the 1990s is a joyous, celebratory and stunning affirmation of lives lived to their fullest. His photos are playful, dynamic, wild and very sexy. A beautiful and brilliant collection."
Dominic Leclerc — director of Sex Education, Skins, The A Word and The Teacher
 
"In the 1990s, photographer Stuart Linden Rhodes stood unwittingly at the edge of a silent cultural upheaval. Rhodes, through his camera, chronicled this defiant spirit, his images a testament to the exuberance and resilience of a community that refused to be hushed."
Gay45
 
"Thirty years ago, gay nightlife in the north of England finally began to rival that of the south. A unique record of gay clubbing at a time that has since become the stuff of legend."
David McGillivray for Attitude Magazine
 
"The body of work depicts an abundance of unmitigated queer joy. But it was set against a backdrop of both heartache and suffering caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and a militant era of political oppression."
DJ Mag
 
"A euphoric deep dive into a thriving queer night life. Naturally, in an era that has imperilled queer night life, Rhodes’ photography takes on a greater resonance, the clarity of his images capturing a candid, uninhibited joy that feels increasingly distant."
Huck Magazine
 
"Stuart Linden Rhodes' pictures are testaments of a golden era of gay clubbing. His images highlight the joy of queerness in many different guises, even when the AIDS crisis had cast such a dark shadow over the lives of so many."
i-D
 
"Stuart Linden Rhodes has been resurrecting the LGBTQ+ nightlife scene of the decade, one IG picture at a time."
Vice
 
"A rare glimpse into the hedonistic energy of the gay, northern party scene in the 1990s. Whether you're a member of the LGBTQ+ community or an admirer British documentary photography, this is a must-see."
Village Books
 
"A luminous archive of queer life. Rhodes brings together glorious scenes from a fascinating chapter in LGBTQ+ history, when everyone came together in celebration of the community. As these photographs reveal, there is nothing quite so affirming as the freedom of youth and the determination to create your own world. Liberation isn’t just protest—it is the celebration of life, of being true to yourself and making space for others to do the same."
AnOther
 
"The Linden Archives features hundreds of posed and candid shots from a time and place in lesbian and gay history that, without it, would be unseen today."
Lesbian Herstory
 
"The scene Stuart shot was diverse and vibrant populated by people of all shapes, sizes, colors, and creeds. It is a scene that was uniquely of its time and has since vanished, much like Stuart’s photographs which weren’t seen for nearly thirty years."
QueerGuru
 
“Linden Archives collected many versions of events from dancefloors, photographing for the the Gay Times and writing reviews to accompany the shots. Friends and romances dressed up in leather and wigs paint the story of a newfound freedom and excitement.”
The Museum of Youth Culture
 
"All of these stories, though never forgotten by the LGBT+ community, remain unseen in mainstream media. Stuart's books aim to change that and give a glimpse into the life of queers in the 1990s."
Liverpool Echo
 
"Stuart was able to help many people relive their bad outfits and questionable hairstyles, and also give loved ones new photographs of people who have since passed away."
Derby Telegraph
 
"Stuart Linden Rhodes was a teacher in the ’90s. By night he accidentally became a chronicler of England’s gay nightlife. Stuart’s photos anticipate the rise of social media—no night out is ephemeral these days, but in the ’90s they were—unless someone like Stuart was there recording."
Scene Magazine
 
"Gay nightlife in the '90s, through the eyes of the photographer who saw it all."
Manchester Evening News
 
"Thank God for Stuart Linden Rhodes."
Harry Clayton-Wright