A photographic tribute to the British seaside
- Text by Zoe Whitfield
- Photography by Turner Contemporary

“I lived in the Midlands which is the furthest away from the seaside you can get,” says Val Williams, co-curator of the Turner Contemporary’s latest show, Seaside: Photographed. “We used to go on day trips to Skegness where I was always sick… looking back it’s probably because everyone in the car was smoking.”
Her new exhibition sets out to examine the British seaside and its corresponding signifiers via the photographer’s gaze, unpacking its status as “a metaphor for the state of the nation”. It features a unique and engaging cast, both behind and in front of the lens, from the 1850s and into the 21st century.
Karen Shepherdson – her partner in the project and co-author of a Thames & Hudson hardback of the same name – grew up with the sea substituting a garden and remains local to the Thanet shoreline. “It’s like theatre,” she says of the seaside’s allure, “everywhere you go there are these little vignettes taking place.”
Williams agrees, adding: “And people taking their clothes off which, for a British person in bad weather, is a strange thing. That doesn’t happen elsewhere. That it closes for winter too, makes it very different from anywhere else also.”

Jason Wild
Boasting a comprehensive group of photographers, the show subsequently taps into 70 versions of the British seaside: Keith Vaughn captures toned young men shortly before WW2, while Grace Lau’s 21st Century Types subverts early colonialist imagery; Henry Iddon shoots Blackpool’s Ocean Hotel in 90 minutes (prior to renovation), as Vanley Burke’s Day Out foregrounds teens from his own Handsworth community.
Martin Parr’s The Last Resort is a natural fit, with the 1986 book in a plastic case beside a stream of 4×6 photographs. Elsewhere, a selection from Daniel Meadows’s 1972 Butlin’s series is also present. “For these young middle class boys it was something they’d never come into contact with before – the working class on holiday,” notes Williams of the imagery’s significance. “They were just amazed; the sheer organised nature of it was unusual for them.”
“A lot of seaside places were built as resorts, then they weren’t needed, and then these great properties get used for other things,” she continues of the respective sites today. “In the past, they’ve been used by London Local Authorities, so it’s kind of answered a lot of questions; there’s a lot of problems that we put onto the seaside.”
Margate’s own cultural capital has been a prominent point of discussion in the last decade, with the Turner Contemporary and nearby Dreamland products of the kind of seaside regeneration councils actively encourage. “If you have agency the seaside is a fantastic place,” says Shepherdson. “But when you have no choice, once you’re at the edge, it’s very difficult to get back. I think that that’s been a real characteristic of seaside life.”

GB. England. New Brighton. From ‘The Last Resort’. 1983-85. Martin Parr

Vanley Burke

Grace Lau, 21st Century Types, 2005

Day trippers, Aberystwyth 1985, Colin Thomas

Down to the Beach, 1959. Photographer Raymond C Lawson (Loaned by Nicholas D Cordès)

Enzo Ragazzini, Isle of Wight Festival, 1970

Grace Lau, 21st Century Types, 2005

Butlins holiday camp, Minehead 1979. Dafydd Jones
Follow Zoe Whitfield on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck

Tender, carefree portraits of young Ukrainians before the war
Diary of a Stolen Youth — On the day that a temporary ceasefire is announced, a new series from photographer Nastya Platinova looks back at Kyiv’s bubbling youth culture before Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. It presents a visual window for young people into a possible future, as well as the past.

Analogue Appreciation: 47SOUL
Dualism — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. Today, it’s Palestinian shamstep pioneers 47SOUL.
Written by: 47SOUL
Meet the hair-raised radicals of Berlin’s noise punk scene
Powertool — In his new zine, George Nebieridze captures moments of loud rage and quiet intimacy of the German capital’s bands, while exploring the intersections between music, community and anti-establishment politics.
Written by: Miss Rosen

Amid tensions in Eastern Europe, young Latvians are reviving their country’s folk rhythms
Spaces Between the Beats — The Baltic nation’s ancient melodies have long been a symbol of resistance, but as Russia’s war with Ukraine rages on, new generations of singers and dancers are taking them to the mainstream.
Written by: Jack Styler

Uwade: “I was determined to transcend popular opinion”
What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s Nigerian-born, South Carolina-raised indie-soul singer Uwade.
Written by: Uwade

Inside the obscured, closeted habitats of Britain’s exotic pets
“I have a few animals...” — For his new series, photographer Jonty Clark went behind closed doors to meet rare animal owners, finding ethical grey areas and close bonds.
Written by: Hannah Bentley