Bristol’s nightlife culture captured in new book by award-winning photographer and journalist

A new photobook launching this October offers a five-year journey through Bristol’s ever-changing nightlife scene - from Carnival and grassroots clubs to queer spaces and youth venues. Up All Night: A Bristol Nightlife Story is a collaboration between award-winning photographer Colin Moody and journalist-musician Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley, published by The History Press.

Described by the authors as “a love letter to Bristol’s nightlife”, the book blends vivid street photography with interviews, poems and reflections from the artists, promoters and communities that make the city come alive after dark.

With nightlife venues facing ongoing pressures across the UK, Up All Night highlights the cultural, social and economic role that night-time spaces play in urban life - not just as entertainment, but as places of identity, creativity and connection.

“These venues, these gigs helped me find myself,” says iconic Bristol gig-goer and visual artist Big Jeff in the book. “Dancing was my communication.”

Up All Night: A Bristol Nightlife Story

The project began in the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns. “A huge part of life had been put on pause,” says co-author Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley. “But what emerged was a deeper appreciation of what nightlife gives us - joy, resilience and community. We wanted to preserve that.”

The book will be previewed at Martin Parr Foundation on Friday 10 October with an outdoor exhibition as a part of BOP (Books on Photography), their annual photobook festival. A second large-scale street gallery - in collaboration with Jack Arts - part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD - will follow on Thursday 23 October near one of the city’s most well-known and longest-standing nightclubs, Lakota, in the form of an outdoor gallery of images and quotes from the book.

Voices featured in the book include drag artist Roux, DJ El-Ze and Annie McGann of the Save Bristol Nightlife campaign, each speaking to the power - and precarity - of nightlife spaces.

“Young people aren’t just looking for a night out, they’re looking for a space to belong,” says DJ El-Ze. “That starts in our smaller venues.”

Up All Night: A Bristol Nightlife Story is published by The History Press and available from October 2025 and purchased from the Martin Parr Foundation book store.