Renowned photographer Derek Ridgers has released a new photo book titled "Hello, I Love You," which compiles his most compelling images of passionate encounters captured across London's vibrant nightlife. The collection showcases erotic moments photographed in clubs, pubs, and tube stations throughout the city, documenting the intimate side of Britain's youth subcultures from the 1970s through the 1980s.

Ridgers, who has spent decades chronicling the UK's youth subcultural movements, was an omnipresent yet unobtrusive figure during the punk and post-punk eras. His camera captured everything from the skinhead revival to the Blitz kids and new romantics, always maintaining sensitivity while documenting moments of quiet introspection, romance, hedonism, and chaos. Originally published as three sold-out zines, the book brings together the most lust-filled photographs from his extensive archive.

The collection features couples enjoying intimate moments amid frenetic dance floors, sometimes literally on the floor itself, making out on platforms of the Hammersmith Underground, and sprawled on pub benches at closing time. "Kissing never changes, but so much else has since these pictures were shot," Ridgers reflects, noting how concepts of public and private space, proximity and distance, and the very existence of subcultures have evolved dramatically.

In discussing his attraction to marginal communities rather than mainstream culture, Ridgers explains his perspective stems from his own nature. "I'm most comfortable inhabiting those margins myself. I'm an only child and my parents were never outgoing or gregarious," he says. As a school student interested in art and music when other kids weren't, he felt like an outsider, never part of a gang but always happy "ploughing my own furrow."

The photographer's approach to capturing intimate moments in chaotic environments reveals a vicarious element to his work. While admitting he's never been one for public displays of affection himself, he was consistently struck by how friendly everyone was, even the skinheads. "When I was shooting portraits, on the street or in nightclubs, I would always ask permission first," Ridgers explains. "When it came to shooting kissing couples, no one ever said no. Not once. Maybe they had better things to think about than a guy standing there with a camera."

Regarding his documentary approach versus artistic expression, Ridgers describes his process as making a series of binary decisions - whether to go out with his camera, which venue to visit, which person to photograph, and later in the darkroom, which images work best. He notes that elements he didn't notice while shooting in dark nightclubs sometimes led to rejecting certain photographs, though he hesitates to call this "artistic expression exactly."

When discussing the impact of modern technology on privacy and mystery, Ridgers believes iPhones have largely eroded both. "We all live lives of anticipated memory these days. Nothing is mysterious since an explanation is only a couple of Google clicks away," he observes. He points to the prevalence of surveillance through smartphones and smart glasses, making it nearly impossible for private moments to remain secret, with serious consequences including cyberbullying and revenge porn affecting young people.

As for contemporary subcultures, Ridgers notes that "the era of very clearly defined British subcultures is now over." Everything appears to exist simultaneously side by side. However, he finds London's LGBTQ-friendly club scene remains as compelling as ever, still seeing plenty of people he'd love to photograph during his occasional nightclub visits.

What continues to drive his photography is simple: "Fabulous, beautiful-looking people." Ridgers admits he can "hardly bear the thought of all the fabulous, beautiful people I'll never get to meet and never have a chance to photograph after I'm dead." "Hello, I Love You" by Derek Ridgers is published by IDEA and is currently available for purchase.