Blog Post #53

Blackpool

Firstly, sorry there hasn’t been a blog post for a couple of weeks. I have had a lot of family stuff going on, visiting Glasgow etc., but hopefully back on track now. Also a big thank you to if you have just subscribed to the blog. There have been quite a few join us over the last few weeks so I hope you enjoy reading this and catching up with previous posts.

You may be wondering why Blackpool is the subject matter for this post and what it has to do with photography. As a kid, I, like many others in Glasgow, descended on Blackpool for two weeks in July every year. It was the “Glasgow Fair” fortnight and all the factories were closed and people looked forward to spending their time at the seaside. I therefore have a strong emotional connection with this Lancashire seaside town as it holds so many memories for me. Although it is a shadow of it’s former glory, it still draws me in and I have found it to be a great location for street and documentary photography.

A few weeks ago Cafe Royal published a book by Stephen Clarke called “Blackpool 1980s - 1990s”. Although my earliest memories of Blackpool go back to the 1960s, I purchased the book purely for the nostalgia and to compare with shots I have taken over the years. I really enjoyed looking at the photographs and they brought back happy memories. This encouraged me to look again at my Blackpool photographs. I have a gallery on my website covering Blackpool street photography and you can view it here .

I have mentioned before that my father was also a keen amateur photographer and when we went on holiday is trusty Kodak “Retinette” was never far from his hand. He took loads of pictures, mainly on Kodachrome slide stock, and I managed to scan some as projectors and screens are almost extinct now. I’d like to share a few with you. I’m sure if he was still with us he would be chuffed at the thought of people across the world looking at his work on the internet.

This shot was taken in July 1959 on the beach at Blackpool just to the south of the Central Pier. This is my mother (she turns 90 this year), and my older sister playing in the background. As you can see, back in those times people got dressed up to go to the beach !

This is my grandfather. As you can see he too is very smartly dressed for a day on the beach. He must be wearing 4 layers of clothing plus the handkerchief in the jacket breast pocket.

Another beach shot, this time including me in the red shorts. The absence of designer labels and the wearing of whitened sand shoes shows a time gone past. It’s interesting how my sister and I are dressed for the beach but the adults look like they are off to a garden party. The acts appearing at the pier theatre also tell of a time when Blackpool could command the top of the bill acts.

These photographs are now almost 64 years old. The ageing of the emulsion has thrown colour casts on them and some degradation has also taken place. That said they are a time capsule of what the beach looked like in Blackpool back in the late 50s and how our attitudes to relaxing on the beach have changed.

Fast forward to the 1980s up until the current day, and like my father before me, I was out and about taking photos in Blackpool. Spending time on the beach was starting to decrease and the once packed beaches were now becoming deserted as less and less people frequented Blackpool in favour of foreign holidays. The so called “Las Vegas of The North” was struggling to attract holiday makers and it was becoming a sad sight in parts. This didn’t stop me visiting though. There was a change taking place from being a family favourite location to a favourite location for Stag and Hen parties and this provided opportunities of a different kind for photography. Here are a few of my shots taken in Blackpool over the years.

July 1984. Beach vendors and donkey rides were now out of favour with families who rarely ventured on to the sand.

2018.

2019, family picnic on the promenade

July 1984. With the north pier in the background and all the deckchairs stacked away as the tide is in

2018, an almost deserted pier

2019, The Golden Mile

So as you must have guessed by now Blackpool is one of my favourite places for street photography. I know the place like the back of my hand but visits recently due to Covid etc have been few. This is something I hope to put right this year and get back up there with the camera.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and thank you for reading it. If you want to comment on this blog post please do so below or you can contact me by using the “Contact Me” facility in the website header.