Pete Hill is a Sheffield-based commercial, editorial and documentary photographer best known for his extensive photographic record of Sheffield from the 1970s onwards. His work captures the city’s changing streets, architecture, industries, music scene and everyday life, creating one of the most significant visual archives of modern Sheffield.
Born in Hackenthorpe, Sheffield, in 1957, Hill developed an interest in photography as a teenager after receiving a Zenit B camera for his 15th birthday. Largely self-taught, he learned from the Time-Life Library of Photography books, drawing inspiration from photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and British photojournalist Bert Hardy. As a teenager he spent countless hours walking Sheffield’s streets, photographing everything from terraced housing and brutalist buildings to markets, pubs and local characters.
Hill turned professional in the early 1980s, initially photographing engineering tools and industrial products for manufacturers before expanding into editorial, corporate and public relations photography. Today he continues to work throughout northern England for businesses, agencies and public organisations, while also producing commercial video.
Alongside his commercial career, Hill has built an extraordinary archive of Sheffield. His photographs document the city’s transformation from the final years of heavy industry through redevelopment into the twenty-first century. He has photographed neighbourhoods including Attercliffe, Heeley, Abbeydale Road, Park Hill and the city centre, preserving many buildings and streetscapes that have since disappeared.
He also documented Sheffield’s influential music scene, photographing bands including Pulp, Cabaret Voltaire and ABC, as well as many lesser-known local groups. His collection forms an important visual record of Sheffield’s cultural history during the late 1970s and 1980s.
More recently he has been part of a British Culture Archive feature focussed on his band photography. He is still to be seen at local gigs!
