This article features interviews with various cultural icons from the 1990s, including photographers Juergen Teller and Nick Knight, fashion designer Stella McCartney, artist Sarah Lucas, and musician Eddie Otchere. Each contributor shares personal anecdotes about influential moments or figures during that decade, such as Teller’s iconic photograph of Kate Moss with pink hair and Lucas's reflections on the emergence of a vibrant contemporary art scene in London through self-organized exhibitions and events.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The 90s: Icons that defined a decade
Juergen Teller, Stella McCartney, Damien Hirst, Steve McQueen and more share their memories of the era
Juergen Teller on his photo Pink Kate Moss
asserted
Teller → define → photo
“In the 1990s things were very slow and we were poor, but we were honest and we had fun.
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we → have → fun
Kate asked me to photograph her with the pink hair.
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Kate → ask → hair
We were taking the series of photographs for ourselves, not for any other reason.
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We → take → reason
We liked each other and we wanted to work together.”
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we → like → other
Eddie Otchere on his photo of Goldie
“In late 1995 Goldie wanted to insulate and incubate a sound built around the talents of a new group of producers, artists and DJs who had championed the jungle sound.
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who → want → sound
Heralded by Kemistry & Storm, their Metalheadz label and the Sunday Sessions, they took jungle music and threw it into the future.
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they → herald → future
In this picture you see Goldie is screaming for the rewind.
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Goldie → see → rewind
This happened moments after the first bass drops in J. Majik’s Your Sound record.
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This → happen → record
I could hear him screaming and tearing towards the DJ booth to tell Grooverider to rewind that tune and play it again.
uncertain
him → hear → it
Before the 1990s, the contemporary art scene in London was limited to a few galleries that would operate by taking on a new artist once a year or so.
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that → limit → artist
They had the authority — and they could be quite stuffy with it.
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they → have → it
But in the 1990s a bunch of artists emerging from colleges began organising their own exhibitions in abandoned buildings or places with short leases, without influence from these leading galleries.
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bunch → emerge → galleries
It was still a small crowd and if you went to an opening everyone would be there and would end up in the same places afterwards.
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everyone → go → places
“The Shop on Bethnal Green Road, which Tracey Emin and I opened in 1992, was a real part of this.
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Emin → open → this
More and more artists started turning up to see us and what we were doing, creating a real sense of community.
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we → turn → community
Every time we’d go to a private view we’d hand out business cards with the address on, handwritten by Tracey with slogans like, “Have you seen that shop?”
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you → go → shop
“These artist-instigated shows and situations started to get beer sponsorship, sometimes spirits even.
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shows → instigate → sponsorship
This helped to grow audiences.
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This → help → audiences
It was a buoyant scene kept up by the enthusiasm of many young people.
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It → keep → people
It wasn’t about shoving art down people’s throats, they were really interested.
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they → shove → throats
The explosion of our generation had a lot to do with having a party and the mentality of that.
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explosion → have → that
There was a period of time when it felt like the whole world was coming to our circus.
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world → be → circus
It was one of those moments when you met a lot of people and you didn’t know it but they were going to be a big part of your life later on.
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they → meet → life
To spend an hour or two with anyone from that time was a great pleasure.
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spend → spend → time
Nick Knight on his photo of David Toole
“This picture is from a series taken in 1997.
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picture → take → 1997
It was the first time that people of different physical abilities and body shapes had been shown within the aspirational codes and language of fashion photography.
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people → show → photography
It was taken before the internet was accessible, so there was absolutely no social media.
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internet → take → ?
At the time, my photographs would be published in magazines, record sleeves or on billboards, but there
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photographs → publish → billboards
As an artist, this is frustrating and gives a sort of sense of detachment and to some degree loneliness — imagine a singer always performing in an empty stadium.
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singer → give → stadium
So I welcome social media and the ability to talk and have a conversation directly with your audience.
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I → welcome → audience
“However, for this picture and the whole series, I would receive letters, physical letters, faxes and phone calls virtually every day for about a year from the moment that story was published.
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story → receive → moment
The requests were often asking to use the pictures in a magazine or academic periodical or in a book, but this feedback went on virtually every day for almost a complete year since the publication of the pictures.
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feedback → ask → pictures
So it felt, in a real tangible sense, that we were in touch with our audience.
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we → feel → audience
It’s one of the reasons I started SHOWstudio three years later, to have that relationship with my audience.”
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I → ’ → audience
Damien Hirst on Two Similar Swimming Forms in Endless Motion
“I remember an interviewer at the time asking me in a negative way, ‘Aren’t you trying to make three-dimensional versions of Francis Bacon paintings?’
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you → remember → paintings
And I remember saying, ‘Yeah, that’s sometimes exactly what I’m trying to do.
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I → say → what
I couldn’t see it as negative.
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I → see → it
A 3D version of a painting can be a powerful thing if you can keep the things that made the painting powerful intact.
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painting → keep → things
A few years later a letter came out where Bacon spoke about some of my works directly and how they moved him.
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they → come → him
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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