Photographs of the 'Great British Public' in London

4 minute read

Bright red telephone boxes, afternoon tea, bobbies with batons. Today even the most naive tourist knows this Mary Poppins vision of Britain is about as true to life as Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent. But what, then, does it mean to be British in 2012? That’s a question the London Festival of Photography has tried to answer with its headline show, “The Great British Public.” The exhibition brings together 13 photographers who have captured modern British life, from posh wingdings to a wind-lashed laundry day on Scotland’s Orkney Islands. “We wanted to celebrate Britain more than be depressed about it,” says curator Grace Pattison, noting her countrymen’s talent for grousing. “It’s about the quirkiness, irony, the humor of the British. It’s quite an uplifting show, really.”

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Nothing jars more with the British sensibility than the idea of forced positivity. Yet Pattison is savvy enough to have built a ‘warts-and-all’ show that winks at its subject while patting it on the back. Some of the photographers have taken on traditions that still thrive in parts of the country. Chris Steele-Perkins captures the lives of the increasing number of Brits who live to be 100 and receive a congratulatory birthday card from the Queen. Arnhel de Serra (the only non-Brit in the show) has captured the action at countryside agricultural shows, where elderly ladies in tweed vie for top prizes in jam-making and flower arranging. Giulietta Verdon-Roe presents a different glimpse into rural life with her elegiac images of the northernmost Orkney Island, population 51 (plus a few thousand seaweed-eating sheep and one very tall lighthouse).

Other photographers focus on the new traditions being created. Photographer Ewen Spencer followed the rise of the Grime music scene (epitomized by black artist Dizzee Rascal), and the young people who hope to rap their way out of London’s poorest neighborhoods.

And then, of course, there is Britain’s ethnic diversity, often packed into small areas like the borough of Hackney in London, documented by Zed Nelson, or a street in the northern city of Birmingham, photographed by Liz Hingley, which hosts over 30 different places of worship including a mosque and a Hindu temple.

It’s impossible to talk about British photography without mentioning Martin Parr, whose seminal The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton (1982-86) presented working class holiday-makers—they of the bulging, pink flesh and oily fish and chip wrappers—in all their vulgar glory. For the exhibition, Pattison preferred not to dwell on Parr’s 80s oeuvre (“It’s not the most exciting way to talk about Britain anymore.”). Rather, she chose an homage to Parr in the work of Peter Dench, who returned to the parts of New Brighton featured in The Last Resort and photographed them as they are today. Even now, the northern town near Liverpool provokes wry bemusement among the British: “It’s all quite gray and the scenery isn’t that exciting,” says Pattison. “It’s seaside life, but with a quite humorous look.”

One image of Parr’s does appear in the exhibition: a picture of an English bobby, standing in a red-brick town, hands on hips, while children hula hoop in the street. “At first glance, you think, ah, it’s a really traditional English scene,” says Pattison. “But it’s actually a historic museum in the Black Country [the industrial Midlands]. It’s actually just a mock street and he’s an actor dressed up as a policeman.”

Finally, the exhibition touches on the British at play, whether it be country and seaside escapes (Simon Roberts), a barbershop in London where locals hash out the day’s politics (Nick Cunard) or the beer-swilling excesses of English football fans (Homer Sykes).

Even with such a multifarious show, Pattison is worried the British public in question will find something to quibble about. “By calling it ‘The Great British Public’ we are potentially asking for criticism if people don’t feel like their view of Britain is in there,” she says. But in the year of the London Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Pattison is allowing herself to be Britishly optimistic. “Hopefully not too many people will say that,” she says with a laugh.

The London Festival of Photography’s exhibition The Great British Public will be on view from June 1 through June 24. More information is available here.

Dudley, The Black Country, England. An area in the midlands, The Black Country gained its name in the mid 19th century due to the smoke from the many thousands of ironworking foundries and forges. Street games at the Black Country Living Museum. 2011.Martin Parr—Magnum
Blackpool Promenade, Lancashire. 2008.Simon Roberts
Orthodox Jews in Stoken Newington, Hackney. London. 2011Zed Nelson—INSTITUTE
Eight year old Georgina Jackson hooks for crabs in Marine Lake with her Grandad, Kenneth (61). 2011.Peter Dench—Reportage by Getty Images
A teenage girl waits for her friends on the streets of Elgin. With a population of 21,000 and it's situation on a main arterial road, Elgin is big enough to experience some of the social issues associated with larger urban areas, while still being situated in predominantly rural region. 2007.Ben Roberts
Once a year, representatives of Birmingham’s Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Jains, Muslims and Sikhs gather for dinner in Birmingham Town Hall. The quick and formal meal displays differing dietary requirements. 2007-2009. Liz Hingley
The World Cup, England v Portugal. Fans photographed in a beer tent marquee watching the game on specially erected televisions sets. Oxfordshire, England. 2006. Homer Sykes
From the series "Open Mic" Roll Deep, Limehouse Estate, London. 2004 Ewen Spencer
Jenny, from the series As You Are. 2008Giulietta Verdon-Roe
Faisal Abdu' Allah of Faisal Barbers, London. 2011Nick Cunard
Swindon. The small town of Wootton Bassett has become the focus of the regular repatriation processions of fallen servicemen and women from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bodies are transported from RAF Lyneham and pass through the town on their way to the coroner in Oxford. Family members, friends and the local community assemble along the route in silent tribute for Sgt. Paul Fox, Riflemen Martin Kinggett, Carlo Apolis and Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate, who all died within six days of each other. 2011John Angerson
Edinburgh. Centenarian Simon Martinez, born February 18, 1910, in Belize. In his local pub, which he walks to from his home where he lives independently with family nearby. 2011Chris Steele-Perkins—Magnum
Peterborough. The East of England Country Show. 2006. Arnhel de Serra

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