PAUL UNDERHILL PHOTOGRAPHY
UK Rave and Dance Music Photography Archive
Documenting UK rave, club, trance and dance music culture from 1993 to 2017. More than 100,000 images across 400 UK events, a seven-year world tour spanning 20 countries, and editorial coverage for the leading music publications of the era.
An Archive Built From Inside the Scene
This is not an external observer’s record of a cultural moment. The archive was made from within it, across fifteen years of first-hand access to UK rave and club culture, from small underground nights in the early 1990s through to stadium-scale dance music festivals in 2017.
More than 400 events. The floor, the stage, the crowd, the quiet edges. Documentary work made without direction, without lighting rigs, in whatever conditions each space and each night presented. The archive began in 1993 on film. Manual focus, dark rooms, no margin for error. It grew as the scene itself grew.
Alongside the event work, the same period produced commissioned editorial for the leading titles of the era: DJ Mag, Mixmag, Muzik, IDJ and Ministry. Cover sessions with Paul van Dyk and Booka Shade, annual Ibiza assignments, festival press credentials and artist portraits all ran alongside the documentary work. That access shaped the scope and range of what exists in the archive today.
Commercial commissions for Red Bull, Smirnoff and Sony Music are part of the record. Paul was official photographer for Gatecrasher (2001-2008), Slinky (1997-2008), Godskitchen (2002-2010), Tidy (2003-2008) and Slammin Vinyl (2006-2016) during the key years of the UK superclub, trance and hard dance era, as well as official photographer at Reading Festival in 2002 and 2003.
The result is a body of work with a consistency that assembled collections cannot replicate. Specific to time, place and scene. Made by someone who was genuinely there.
WHAT THE ARCHIVE CONTAINS
What the Archive Contains
UK Rave Culture
Underground and outdoor events from the early 1990s through to the mid-1990s. The unlit warehouses, the fields, the sound systems and the crowds that came before the scene fully went overground. Shot in real time, before rave culture became a museum piece.
UK Trance
The emergence and peak of UK trance, from early club nights through to the arena and festival circuit. The DJs, crowds, lasers, production and atmosphere of rooms at the genre’s commercial and cultural height. Paul photographed this period from inside the scene, including official photographer roles with Gatecrasher (2001-2008) and Slinky (1997-2008), alongside Godskitchen (2002-2010) and the Slinky Opera House on the South Coast.
Hard House and Hard Dance
The harder edge of UK club culture, including Tidy, hard house nights, high-energy dancefloors and the faster, more intense side of the late 1990s and early 2000s club scene. Paul was official photographer for Tidy from 2003 to 2008. This part of the archive reflects the crossover between superclubs, specialist hard dance brands and the wider youth culture surrounding them.
Club Culture
Residencies, superclub nights, touring DJs and the London and UK club scene through the late 1990s into the 2000s. Ministry of Sound and Bagleys in London, Cream in Liverpool, Turnmills, the Warehouse Project in Manchester, Alexandra Palace and Dreamscape. Paul was official photographer for Slammin Vinyl from 2006 to 2016. Regional nights including Madisons in Bournemouth, The Manor in Dorset and Destiny rave events across Dorset and London, alongside underground events in Bristol and the early warehouse circuit.
Dance Music Festivals
Large-scale outdoor festival photography from the UK and internationally, from the late 1990s through to 2017. Big Beach Boutique II in Brighton in 2002, where an estimated 250,000 people gathered on the seafront. Reading Festival as official photographer in 2002 and 2003. Bestival on the Isle of Wight, Snowbombing in the Austrian Alps and Global Gathering. International festival coverage includes events in the Netherlands with crowds of up to 120,000.
Ibiza
Commissioned annual editorial assignments across more than a decade, covering the clubs, the DJs and the wider cultural scene during the peak years of Ibiza’s global influence on dance music. Commissioned by DJ Mag for the annual Ibiza summer specials alongside documentary access to the island’s broader nightlife.
Artists and DJs
Portraits, live shots and backstage work with key figures from the era. Editorial cover sessions alongside documentary access that the commissioned work alone would not have produced. International work ran across more than 20 countries including South Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan, Beirut, Germany, the Netherlands, Dubai and a private event at the Versace mansion in Miami.
ARCHIVE SECTIONS
Browse the Archive
The archive is organised into dedicated sections. Additional focused sections, including Gatecrasher, Slinky and Tidy, are in preparation.
90s Rave Photography Archive
UK rave culture from the early 1990s. Underground events, warehouse nights, early electronic music scenes and the dancefloors that defined the era before the scene went overground.
UK Superclub Era Photography Archive
Gatecrasher, Slinky, Godskitchen and Cream. The late 1990s and early 2000s: the branded club nights, arena events and festival stages with the visual identity, crowds and production that defined the period.
Dance Music Festival Photography Archive
Large-scale outdoor festival photography from the UK and internationally. Stages, crowds and production across events from Global Gathering and Reading Festival to Big Beach Boutique II and international festivals with crowds exceeding 100,000.
Music Photography Licensing
Images from the archive are available for editorial, documentary, broadcast, publishing, exhibition and brand use. Details on archive access and licensing enquiries.
LICENSING AND USE
Available for Professional Use
Images from the archive are available for a range of professional applications. Licensing is handled on a per-project basis, with terms structured around use type, distribution, territory, duration and exclusivity.
Editorial and Media
Print and digital features, long-reads, cultural commentary and social history. Music press, general interest publications and specialist titles covering the rave and club era.
Documentary and Broadcast
Television, streaming and independent documentary production on rave culture, electronic music history, UK nightlife and the social context of the period.
Books and Publishing
Illustrated histories, photo books, cultural essays, academic texts and reference works covering electronic music, youth culture and UK nightlife.
Exhibition and Gallery
Curated exhibitions, cultural heritage installations and gallery presentations. The archive is suited to both dedicated retrospectives and broader cultural history exhibitions.
Brand Research and Campaigns
Authentic period imagery for brands building campaigns, visual identities or creative strategies grounded in 90s and early 2000s music and youth culture.
Cultural and Heritage Projects
Museum collections, archive preservation initiatives, academic research and cultural memory projects concerned with UK electronic music history and its social legacy.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
About the Archive
The archive was built by Paul Underhill, a documentary photographer with more than 25 years of professional experience across music, commercial and wedding photography.
The music culture work began in the early 1990s and continued through to 2017, covering more than 400 events across the UK and internationally. The approach was always documentary: no direction, no additional lighting, nothing that wasn’t already in the room. That discipline is what gives the archive its consistency and its credibility as a visual record.
During the same period, Paul shot regularly for the leading dance music publications of the era. DJ Mag, Mixmag, Muzik, IDJ and Ministry all carried his work. He held official photographer roles with Gatecrasher, Slinky, Godskitchen, Tidy and Slammin Vinyl across key years of the UK superclub, trance and hard dance era, and was official photographer at Reading Festival in 2002 and 2003. That editorial and official access shaped the scope and depth of what the archive holds today.
Enquiries are handled directly and personally. The archive is not managed as a passive library, and the aim is always to match the right material to each project as efficiently as possible.
REQUESTING ACCESS
How to Work with the Archive
Get in touch with a brief outline of your project. The more context you can provide, the more efficiently relevant images can be identified and presented.
Useful details include the type of project and its intended use; the tone, mood or subject you need the images to convey; any specific events, venues, artists or time periods; your timeline and any deadlines; and whether you require exclusivity.
There is no obligation to commit before seeing what the archive holds. Research enquiries are welcome at any stage of a project.
Archive and Licensing Enquiries
For editorial, documentary, publishing, exhibition or brand use, get in touch with details of what you need.
+44 (0) 1202 937 529