When we started Bido Lito! in May 2010, the intention was that the artists would take centre stage: we weren’t going to be bogged down in historical anecdotes and mining the myth or Liverpool music heritage, but create a platform where the here and now was given the limelight. Over the course of 10 years, we’ve documented the work of hundreds of musicians, artists, DJs, promoters and creatives of all stripes, and a great supporting character has emerged as we’ve told these stories: the city.

The city – and, indeed, the whole Merseyside region – has been a backdrop to many of these fascinating stories, helping us to bring the profiles to life with a sense of familiarity. Across the countless photoshoots and interviews we’ve done, the locations have added an extra, living element to each story, bringing a sense of immediacy to the various accounts. By looking through the photography in Bido Lito!, you should be able to marry up the featured artists with places you recognise; if this makes their work feel more real and accessible, then it can help to bring the whole scene to life.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with dozens of photographers down the years who have shared this desire to make Bido Lito! a monthly love letter to Liverpool. This has resulted in some fabulous feature photography being printed in our pink pages, from which we’ve picked out a few of our favourites. The backgrounds vary massively, from artists’ natural habitats to dominant city landmarks, the famous Liverpool skyline to great array of greenery and natural wonders we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by. There are places we walk past every day, and some that contain hidden stories. The musicians we feature are adding to these layers of history every day – we’re just pulling out those stories, and using the cityscape as an extra character to help relay them to you. Because, as you’ll find, the city is not just a canvas, but an active participant in the story.

Find out more about the individual stories each photograph tells on our Open Eye Blog

www.openeye.org.uk/blog/bidoscapes-a-decade-of-bido-lito/

By Christopher Torpey

Bido Lido! Founding Editor