Historical Pictures

Another one of those pictures that have fantastic use of light...

 

North Wales seaside photos resurface after 40 years

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Michael Bennett looks back on his seaside photographs, buried away and forgotten for nearly 40 years, that caused a stir before their first exhibition.

In 1979, a newly reopened Llandudno gallery commissioned him for an exhibition depicting north Wales' coastal towns.

"I was asked to capture the melancholy of seaside resorts out of season," he says.

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"North Wales in the harsh winter of 1979 was particularly bleak."

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But when he delivered the project, Bennett was surprised to find the gallery responded negatively to the images.

"The gallery commissioner almost certainly expected a romanticised impression of the coast," he says.

"To me, this wouldn't have been honest - I felt I needed to show exactly how it was.

"I guess I gave them too much reality, grit and detail - they didn't like it at all.

"It affected my confidence for quite a while."

Following a change in the gallery's directorship, however, Bennett was asked to re-photograph the same locations during summer.

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Leaving behind the bulkier equipment he used in winter, he opted for a small camera that - despite having a fixed wide-angle lens and limited focus control - would allow him to discreetly capture more candid images.

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"I worked very close to subjects with a tiny, cigarette-packet-sized camera," he says.

"I wanted to be in close contact, not shoot from a distance.

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"However, I found it was pretty much the same [as winter] - just warmer, with more people."

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Still unsatisfied, the gallery reworked the 1980 exhibition to include other photographers' work alongside Bennett's.

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After that, Bennett's photos lay forgotten, until 2019, when he saw a call for submissions to the Turner Contemporary's Seaside Photographed exhibition.

"I thought submitting was pointless - I had no confidence in these seaside pictures," he says.

"Not only were the prints not rejected, they asked to see more - then, more.

"Ultimately, a wall in the gallery was set aside to show them.

"I hadn't realised at the time I was capturing a piece of social history.

"It's a bitter-sweet sensation for the project to be shown again - after four decades, I feel for the first time that I did something worthwhile."

 

This would be unthinkable now...

 

One of Steely's haunts?...

 

Unfortunately not - closed down in 1985. Apparently a great venue, mother-in-law queued up to see The Who perform Tommy there in 1969 so she tells us!

 

Such a shame so many of those venues are gone now, just to be able to queue for tickets...

 

Shocking picture taken by someone in the crowd that night.
My brother & l were also there, a couple of rows back from the centre stage.

Eric had the customary lit ciggie and tucked into the strings next to the tuning pegs.
People were smoking reefers all over the joint ( pardon the pun ).
The old Hordern Pavilion was a total sweatbox for all & sundry but the atmosphere was good.

I don't remember but looking at the photo, the bass player looks the spitting image of Donald 'Duck' Dunn ( Blues Brothers Movie fame )

 

Yep, one of my early years 'arsenal'. Can smell it now...

 

Thought you may find this interesting @Sooperhoop with your Cypriot connections...

 

I follow Marc on Twitter and saw this, it reminds me of my father's home village where he and his brothers used to play by the asbestos mine about a mile from his home. It always amazed me he lived to 98, he was 16 when he was caught nicking asbestos and offered the choice of a £2 fine or two weeks in jail, being the tightwad he was he chose jail. In 1940 he was in a sanatorium for 18 months with TB, he smoked the old Senior Service fags and cigars. I hope I have his constitution...

 

Great story - I'm hoping I've got some of the female constitution from both sides of my family, not the male. Both my Grandfathers died fairly young, whilst both Grandmothers made it into their 90s.

Marc and YourWullie have some of the best photos on Twitter (for me anyway)

 

I can remember two weeks of fog in either 1961 or 62, our school actually closed for a couple of days which never happened in those days. We couldn't see the houses opposite in our road...

 

Looks like something out of 'Night of the Demon', stunning...

 

A Hurricane and a Spit over the cliffs of Dover.
The Hawker Hurricane actually shot down more enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain than the Supermarine Spitfire.

 

bloke in bottom left checking out her legs