This ‘social landscape’ photography project (for want of a better phrase) covers the length of the Lincolnshire coast. It is a spin off project from my larger photography odyssey Jerusalem.

Lincolnshire’s seaside resorts probably take up the major length of its coastline, the rest being heavy industry, docks, wildlife reserves, RAF bombing ranges and of-course vast empty beaches. I have a particular affinity with the Lincolnshire seaside towns having visited them constantly throughout my life.

It’s been a while but I’m pretty sure this is the exact spot in Mablethorpe where my father took the original. The elephant was bright pink and it was sunny, wasn’t it always!

Quite a lot of photographers have documented the seaside (Martin Parr, Tony Ray-Jones etc) but, they have mainly concentrated on people and sociological aspects. Rather than the voyeuristic (I know, all photographers are voyeurs) and class observations, I have always been more fascinated by the oddly utilitarian architecture dedicated to ‘fun’ and designed to mug the innocent. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of the garish colours, paraphernalia, humour, and smells of seaside holidays. The sun, sand and perishing coldness of the North Sea, which was brown, I never saw blue sea until I visited Cornwall in my twenties.

Of course as is my wont, the title ‘Fantasy Island’ is a reference to brexit so, expect the usual juvenile references here and and there ;-)

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