I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE
A major new photography exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is celebrating Britain’s love affair with the seaside. Featuring more than 100 works by four of Britain’s most celebrated photographers – Martin Parr, Tony Ray-Jones, David Hurn and Simon Roberts – The Great British Seaside: Photography from the 1960s to the Present explores our changing relationship with the seaside over the last six decades.
Probably Jaywick Sands, Essex, c1967, photographed by Tony Ray-Jones (National Science and Media Museum/SSPL)
Documenting a quintessentially British experience, The Great British Seaside covers the country’s beaches from Brighton to Blackpool, and captures the traditions, customs and eccentricities associated with them. The exhibition showcases photography from the archive collections of some of Britain’s most celebrated photographers, as well as video footage.
With endearing scenarios well-known to us all, the exhibition will take visitors on a nostalgic journey featuring the iconic beach huts, deck chairs, fish ‘n’ chips and donkey rides synonymous with a trip to the seaside. While the fashions and styles of each era give tell-tale clues of the decade, the activities and traditions are amusingly consistent, reappearing throughout the six decades covered in the exhibition, alongside the familiar sight of Brits determined to enjoy their day out, whatever the weather.
• Open 10am-5pm daily, from 23 March until 30 September 2018.
Admission £5-£11.50; www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/great-british-seaside