The photography platform taking you inside the world’s best raves

For 23-year-old Jordan Taylor, doom-scrolling through Instagram’s explore page was the perfect coping mechanism to fight lockdown blues. Back in summer 2020, the Newcastle-based student set up his Instagram account Tough Luck, a platform spotlighting analogue photography of illegal raves, house parties and early hours hedonism.

“I basically wanted to share the work of film photographers I like,” says Taylor about the early beginnings of his page. “It just snowballed into what it is today.” What started as a Tumblr-esque collection of personal memories evolved into a remarkable archive of youth and rave culture from around the world. Scrolling through Tough Luck’s Instagram profile feels like attending one big party – everyone is having the time of their lives, drinking, dancing, and losing all sense of time and space.