Waiting for Summer

Like many photographers I love the English seaside. I think we are attracted by the innate sense of carefree enjoyment, laughter, holidays and people having fun that are all intrinsic to so many English seaside towns - even the ones that are too often characterised as ‘fading’. I also think that seaside towns are uniquely English - a kind of testament to the awkward relationship the British have with simply relaxing and having fun.

Weymouth Promenade, February 2023

In February, I visited Weymouth on the Dorset coast to discover what this one-time favourite of George III felt like in the chill gloom of late winter. I greatly enjoyed the weekend - and particularly the sense of local bustle that was evident even so far out of season.

But it was this image of an isolated children’s roundabout, with its chained seats, functional steel barriers and barren beach, save for the gulls, with which I was most satisfied. I feel the image conveys a ghostly presence, as though one can hear summer laughter and organ music on the breeze.

I also think it is the combination of the bright colours of the roundabout set against the grey of the sky and sea that suggests ideas from a longing for summer to come, to children and parents, ice cream and candifloss, and warm beaches and youthful flirtation. It’s all here - and not yet here.

As you will see in many of my images, I often like to approach this kind of subject from a square-on perspective. I enjoy the way that this approach breaks the traditional ‘rules’ of composition: avoiding obvious leading lines and instead allowing the layers of the image to tease and intrigue the eye. I also like the way that the frivolity of the garishly decorated roundabout contrasts with the utilitarian greyness of the harbour wall beyond the beach.

I hope that this approach makes the eye work a little harder, so that my audience may also hear that laughter on the wind and feel that the waiting for the fun and enjoyment of next summer will soon by over.