Culture

Skinhead book documents the scene in Wales and beyond

20 Sep 2026 4 minute read

Images from This Is Skinhead – a new book by photographer Tom Wilkins.

David Owens

A Cardiff-based documentary photographer is to publish This Is Skinhead, an independently produced photobook documenting contemporary skinhead culture through his own photography alongside first-hand testimony and personal archives contributed by skinheads themselves.

Tom Wilkins began the project as an outsider after being invited to photograph a group of skinheads in South Wales.

Over the following months, he spent time with people across the area and beyond, documenting friendships, clothing, music, politics, humour, conflict and the everyday moments surrounding a culture frequently reduced to stereotypes.

As the project developed, it became increasingly collaborative. Skinheads were invited to contribute their own photographs, memories and experiences, allowing personal and family archives to sit alongside Wilkins’ contemporary documentary photography.

Contributors include photographer and Skins author Gavin Watson, Canadian musician Jenny Woo, Justin “Mooch” DeLoretto, and skinheads from Britain and around the world whose photographs, memories and first- hand accounts form part of the book.

Moving between generations, This Is Skinhead includes teenagers discovering the culture today alongside people whose involvement stretches back decades. Historical photographs sit alongside images made by Wilkins in 2025 and 2026, creating a record of a culture that continues to change, survive and be passed from one generation to another.

The book does not attempt to sanitise the culture or avoid its more difficult history. Politics, racism and violence appear alongside friendship, working-class identity, music, clothing, family and belonging. Rather than offering a single definition of what it means to be a skinhead, Wilkins allows conflicting experiences and perspectives to exist alongside one another.

“Until last year, I knew almost nothing about skinhead culture,” said Tom.

“The project began when a group of skinheads in South Wales contacted me and invited me to photograph them. I went to meet them with my camera, not really knowing what to expect. Instead of the image of skinheads I had absorbed from the outside, I found myself being welcomed into a community and gradually given access to people’s friendships, homes, nights out and everyday lives.

“I spent the following months photographing skinheads across South Wales and beyond. The resulting work looks at identity, working-class culture, music, style, friendship, politics, violence, family and belonging, without trying to ignore the contradictions or more difficult parts of the culture’s history.

“But I was always conscious of one thing: I’m not a skinhead, and this isn’t my story to tell on their behalf.

“That changed the direction of the book.

Skinheads make their feelings felt about Reform outside the party’s Caerphilly office. (Credit: Tom Wilkins)

“I began inviting skinheads themselves to contribute their own photographs, memories and experiences. Personal snapshots and family archives stretching back decades now sit alongside my contemporary photographs from 2025–26, allowing the people within the culture to speak for themselves rather than having everything interpreted through my camera.

“Rather than trying to provide a definitive answer to what a skinhead is, the book documents a culture that is still being lived in Britain in 2026, from teenagers discovering it today to people who have carried it with them for decades.”

The book features a foreword by Welsh DJ, TV and radio presenter Katie Owen, who writes: “What I love about This Is Skinhead is that it doesn’t try to tidy anything up or ignore the more difficult parts of the history either. It lets the people within the culture tell their own stories, and that makes it feel much more real.”
Katie Owen

This Is Skinhead will be independently published by Tom Wilkins Photography on 13 October 2026, priced £20.

You can order the book via: tom-wilkins.bigcartel.com

Follow Tom his Instagram page: @tomwilkinsphotography

A selection of image from This Is Skinhead

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Watch: Welsh skinheads were asked what they thought of Reform

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