Launch Recite Me assistive technology
Three people sit on a London Underground train, smiling at the camera. A translucent map is layered over the scene, showing station names including “High St Kensington”, “Earls Court” and “Putney”.

Photography: 40 years of the London Underground captured by Bob Mazzer

—
Date
25 July 2013

It’s only when Londoners see photographs like these that they cease to see the London Underground system as something other than sweaty tunnels beneath a dirty city, and look upon it with a kind of warm affection. Photographer Bob Mazzer spent a lot of his time in the 1970s and 1980s just hanging about on the Tube capturing London dwellers quietly travelling around the capital. I say quietly, a lot of these people are rowdy punks, chain smokers (yes, you could smoke on the Tube in the olden days!) and people holding impromptu wrestling matches. Not like these days. Everything’s boring these days.

Check out Bob’s older Tube series over on his site, and then have a look at his newest collection of present-day snaps. I hope that one day, in the future, people find these as fascinating as we find the older photographs now.

Two people in red shirts crouch on top of a black security gate in a tiled corridor. Signs on either side of the gate read “NO ENTRY”.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

A group of people crowd into a train carriage, some leaning forward and gesturing towards the camera. They wear a mix of casual clothes and blazers, with one person in the foreground sporting a blue mohawk.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

Three people sit together on a wooden bench at a train station. The person in the middle is kissed on each cheek by the other two. Behind them, a white train stands at the platform under bright overhead lights.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

Two people sit side by side on a train. One wears glasses and a textured brown coat, while the other wears a dark jacket with a white faux-fur collar and holds a glass of beer.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

Four people stand on a London Underground platform, playing music together. One person plays an electric guitar while another plays bass, as a third person sings.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

A person with curly dark hair flashes a peace sign, wearing an open black jacket. Behind them, a train blurs past on a station platform.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

Two people sit side by side on a London Underground train. One wears a headscarf and trench coat, holding a yellow “Holland & Barrett” shopping bag. The other wears a dark coat and fishnet tights, holding a packet of cigarettes.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

A black and white photograph of a crowded train carriage. In the centre, two people embrace while others stand and sit around them, looking on with neutral expressions.
Above

Bob Mazzer: 40 years on the Tube

Share Article

About the Author

Liv Siddall

—

Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.