Rob Bremner gives us Six of the Best

Rob Bremner started earning money as a press photographer in Inverness under Margaret Thatcher’s Youth Training Scheme. He’d heard the job would permit him more time in bed in the morning, and so jumped at the opportunity to bypass a typically Scottish career in manual labour.

Raised in a small village in just outside John O’Groats, Rob’s working-class upbringing was brokered by two parents with a laid back and supportive attitude. He tells Harvey Solomon-Brady about how it pays to be polite in a world where “if you fall down, they’ll stomp on your head.”

Mum

“I was the typical son because I never offered to hang out the washing once in my entire life. A cold day like that – I’ll stay inside in the house all nice and warm and photograph her out of the window! They never had a go at me, my parents, they accepted the fact that they had two children who didn’t really do a lot other than moan and have a good time. For some reason they never really asked us to do anything.”

Dad

“I’ve bent the camera ever so slightly to increase the tension, a trick I got from [Irish street photographer] Tom Wood. This is New Year’s Day. Dad’s recovering from drinking two bottles of whisky. He’d go from door to door and everybody would get blind drunk, his nine brothers would show up, and it’d go on for days because they’d all have parties on different nights. I remember one year I spent the entire time searching ditches for my dad’s false teeth – he’d fallen in a ditch and lost his false teeth! It was a regular occurrence as well. ‘Have as good a time in life as you can,’ that’s what my dad used to say when I’d come home. He’d give me 20 pound and just say: ‘Enjoy yourself.’”

Peter and Aggie

“Peter used to work in a factory. This is 1980s Pier Head, Liverpool. I was unemployed when I took this and used to get a nine-pound can of film with my dole money then just hang around Pier Head with all the old people and take photographs. Peter had been made redundant and was wondering just what he was doing becoming a father at his age after Aggie had their baby. All of a sudden he’s got this son and there’s no work for him to take care of them. He looks as if he’s in his 40s but it’s hard to tell because it could have been a tough life. He’s dead now, a niece of his got in contact not too long ago.”

Kennsington

“I don’t really remember that place. My girlfriend was driving to work one day, I think it was in 1997, and I spotted they were burning something here and with the photo of the kid in the front I thought: ‘That’ll make a good photograph,’ so I just went back and shot it half an hour later.”

Margaret Felmingham with her mother Peggy

“They’re both from Kirkdale but that was shot in Vauxhall. I stopped them for a few minutes while in college in the 80s but recently posted all my photographs on Facebook. I had hundreds of people from the area follow me so all the journalist friends I’m friends with on there must have been really impressed because it looks like I know everyone from Everton!”

James and Meline Seddon with Joseph Ainscough

“This was just outside Everton in Kirkdale, 1987. Joseph [right] went on to be a professional boxer. Him and his mates used to follow me around when I was shooting architecture. He asked: ‘Can I have a photograph, mister?’ I said no but they followed me around until I eventually gave in. I said: ‘You stand there. You stand there, and you stand there. Look at me and don’t you bloody well smile.’”