Jamie Morgan and Ray Petri captured and created one of the 80s most influential movements – now it’s memorialised in print

When you think of the 80s, you probably think of a lot of things: upbeat pop music, audacious clothing, and rebellious punk attitudes – all of which seem bygone in this day and age, but in Idea’s latest photography book, 1985, a lightning bolt has been captured in print. Photographer Jamie Morgan and fashion designer Ray Petri, the creators of the Buffalo style movement, rewrote the rules of fashion and culture forever. In the year of several significant cultural events, such as the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the debut of New Coke, and the first mobile phone call, one thing rose to the surface more than anything else: authentic, rebellious youth culture.

“These images are not contrived in that they were created without any preconceived agenda. They came about as a natural and authentic collaboration between myself and the stylist Ray Petri,” says Jamie. “They came out of a genuine exploration of image making inspired by everything we loved: music, art, sport and fashion.” Following his instincts, Jamie set out to disregard societal norms by casting racial diversity, gender fluidity, androgyny and muscle men in feminine clothes. Style was sourced globally – army surplus from NYC, hats from Jamaica, fashion from Paris. The photos are undoubtedly striking, think Tom Of Finland masculinity meets Adam Ant punk sensibilities, Hollywood lighting meets black-and-white 35mm film synonymous with reportage photography. Four years into the MTV generation, Jamie and Ray helped define how we remember this era. It’s easy to think of Vanilla Ice when looking at these sleek, chiselled models, but these photos were the blue print.

“Ray always used to say ‘start with the face and the rest will fall into place!’ We always started with who we wanted to shoot and then built the story around that character,” says Jamie. 1985 is a tribute to Ray, a designer with a cutting edge eye for fashion and aesthetic value who died in 1989 of AIDS-related illness. Jamie remembers a time when Ray’s instinctive understanding of fashion allowed the duo to play in their process, when Ray wanted to shoot Nick Kamen in classic British raincoats, but Jamie wasn’t a fan of the trousers. “I suggested not using any trousers and having him in his boxer shorts. Ray just smiled at me and took them off! It looked so sexy and provocative and yet very natural. We did the rest of the shoot without any trousers.” This is why Jamie’s knack for portraiture was made for Ray’s passion for fashion – it wasn’t always about clothes, it was about style.

The goal of 1985 is to reignite the fire of Ray’s influence, who Jamie says “died before he was truly recognised and appreciated”. When Jamie was asked by Naomi Campbell to use photos from the mid 80s for a show at the V&A Museum in London, he found himself unlocking a flurry of memories in the form of old negatives and contact sheets. “The smell of the celluloid film and markings on the contact sheets was a sensory treat that took me right back to the time. What really struck me the most was how contemporary they looked,” says Jamie. “A real testament to the styling of Ray and the influence of Buffalo in modern fashion.” 1985 celebrates the beauty in photography – sensual images, authentic youth culture, edgy street attitudes – it’s “all killer, no fillers” as Jamie says, and it’s a love letter to all the “Buffalo boys and girls” who created the 80s.

The book is available via Idea and Dover Street Markets worldwide.