Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside!
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is a fab day out for families and it's free! With two lovely children's galleries and an interactive map that kids can navigate using an iPad, there's plenty to see and do before heading off to the cafe for tea and cake or better still, down the road for some pie and mash at Goddards.
But it's not all about the kids. This week I enjoyed a photography exhibition called 'The Great British Seaside: Photography from the 1960s to the Present. The exhibition featured images from Tony Ray-Jones, David Hurd, Martin Parr and Simon Roberts.
I have loved Martin Parr's work since teaching a little bit of A Level Photography a few years ago and there is something about street/beach photography that I find completely engaging. I didn't know much about the other photographers but I think I was most taken with the work of Tony Ray-Jones. In his short career, he travelled to beaches around the UK to capture 'the sadness and the humour in a gentle madness that prevails in people'. What I loved about the images I saw, is the way Tony Ray-Jones uses the whole of the frame to tell the story. With the very famous image below we first notice the man with the hanky over his eyes. We notice his body language and clothes and the fact that he doesn't look very relaxed as he dozes on the beach. But then our eyes move towards the back of the frame and the lady looking into the camera - what was she thinking as the photographer stood nearby?
I have loved Martin Parr's work since teaching a little bit of A Level Photography a few years ago and there is something about street/beach photography that I find completely engaging. I didn't know much about the other photographers but I think I was most taken with the work of Tony Ray-Jones. In his short career, he travelled to beaches around the UK to capture 'the sadness and the humour in a gentle madness that prevails in people'. What I loved about the images I saw, is the way Tony Ray-Jones uses the whole of the frame to tell the story. With the very famous image below we first notice the man with the hanky over his eyes. We notice his body language and clothes and the fact that he doesn't look very relaxed as he dozes on the beach. But then our eyes move towards the back of the frame and the lady looking into the camera - what was she thinking as the photographer stood nearby?
What I love about beach photography is the mixture of humour and sadness. In many of the photographs there is a real sense of humour and affection alongside shabby looking seaside towns. The images might remind us of times gone by. David Hurn's photographs really capture a sense of community. In the short film you can see at the 'Beach Cinema', he talks about how the Welsh Mines would close for two weeks every year to carry out safety checks. Therefore, all the mining families would head to the beach together. These images remind us that tragically, a whole industry has disappeared.
Martin Parr's photographs fill a large section of the exhibition and I was surprised at how recently some of the photographs had been taken. This image of socks and sandals from Eastbourne, feels like it was taken in the 70s but it is from 2000. It shows that although some things change, some things stay the same.
This is particularly noticeable when looking at what people are doing on the beach - playing games, looking after children, eating/drinking and sunbathing. It illustrates the idea that the beach is 'democratic'. In all the pictures, families are doing the same sorts of things. Regardless of class or culture, on the beach we are the same.
The exhibition cost £11.50 to get in and is beautifully presented. Before you go in, there is the opportunity to take your own 'beach selfie' complete with inflatable lobster if you wish. Inside the photographs are displayed at different sizes starting with Tony Ray-Jones and ending with the large format photographs of Simon Roberts. There is also a beach cinema which features films on all the photographers and is a chance to learn more about this beautiful, emotional, funny and sometimes cruel documentation of British beaches.
Images: Tony Ray-Jones Blackpool, Lancashire, about 1967 David Hurn Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan, 1973 Martin Parr Eastbourne, East Sussex, 2000
Martin Parr's photographs fill a large section of the exhibition and I was surprised at how recently some of the photographs had been taken. This image of socks and sandals from Eastbourne, feels like it was taken in the 70s but it is from 2000. It shows that although some things change, some things stay the same.
This is particularly noticeable when looking at what people are doing on the beach - playing games, looking after children, eating/drinking and sunbathing. It illustrates the idea that the beach is 'democratic'. In all the pictures, families are doing the same sorts of things. Regardless of class or culture, on the beach we are the same.
The exhibition cost £11.50 to get in and is beautifully presented. Before you go in, there is the opportunity to take your own 'beach selfie' complete with inflatable lobster if you wish. Inside the photographs are displayed at different sizes starting with Tony Ray-Jones and ending with the large format photographs of Simon Roberts. There is also a beach cinema which features films on all the photographers and is a chance to learn more about this beautiful, emotional, funny and sometimes cruel documentation of British beaches.
Images: Tony Ray-Jones Blackpool, Lancashire, about 1967 David Hurn Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan, 1973 Martin Parr Eastbourne, East Sussex, 2000
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