Juice Box
Juice Box is a photographic study of the costal towns of England across the summer season. It's about capturing "Britishness" in all it's glory. Showing what our seaside towns have become and the working class "staycation" under the current Tory reign.
Juicebox is a photographic study inspired by Martin Parr's Last Resort. Using a light leaking holga in the shape of a juice box, I wanted to photograph the costal towns of the England, from Redcar to Skeggy right down to Weston Super Mare.
Capturing "Britishness" in all of it's former glory. Showing what British seasides have become and the new working class "staycations" under the current Tory reign.
A holiday filled with bargains and worn down littered parks. I wanted to capture a reality to a working class summer, the dirt, the damp and the good old poundshop. Yet within this series I wanted a warmth, a somewhat Narnia effect. Plow through the dirt and bathe in the memories of the past where all we needed was a go on the hook a duck and a can of Kwik Save "no frills cola"
This honest look at the working class summer, snap shots of the way things were. Filled with honesty, familiarity and rain.
Shooting in a traditional manner, using 35mm film. A medium used by millions to capture summer holidays for decades, gave the project a connection to it's roots and added to the unpolished style of the locations.
I used as little editing as possible to ensure the connection between idea, location and final "product" didn't get lost. I purchased a £8 35mm holga camera from Ebay. It arrived from China, slightly damaged which was perfect for adding a texture and rawness to the images. After shooting I would send the negatives off to be developed, I wanted to stay as close to the roots of the project as possible and after receiving the images back I simply scanned them in, lightened the darker images slightly and that was that.
It's hard to say how people responded. Some were appalled I had shown their town in a "bad light", whilst others loved that the project was honest and showed the parts of towns we choose not to photograph when we holiday.
Understanding what the project is trying to portray helps with the response and how people connect and communicate with the images.
I've learnt that you'll always offend and being offended doesn't always matter.