This is from Martin Parr's photo documentary project "Think of England", which took place in 1999. This picture shows a lady sitting on a folding chair in the middle of what I presume is a field at a holiday camp. In the foreground, in front of the woman sitting in the chair, is a banner of Union Jack flags, one of which covers the lady's face entirely. In the background, we can see few people hanging around an ice cream van, which is all out of focus, as a narrow depth of field has been used. The flag presents the themes of Patriotism, Nationalism and British Lifestyle. The fact the flag has completely obscured her face implies that patriotism blinds people, and that they can't see the truth in their surroundings. We can also say that the photographer was possibly trying to imply that being patriotic means you loose your identity on a personal level, and your identity turns into a simple reflection of the views of the rest of the country.
This was taken in New Brighton, which is in Liverpool. This image was presumably taken in the 1980s, based on the clothing and the colours in the image. This image depicts a crowded fast food restaurant filled with people who have just come from the beach to eat. At the front, people are taking their food and concentrating on putting sauce on it. This photo has themes of British Lifestyle and the lifestyle of the working classes. The fact people are entirely focussed and concentrating on getting their food and putting sauce on it implies that the working classes put a lot of unnecessary effort into leisure activities. We were able to assume that these people were working class based on many elements of the photo. For example, the place they are in is barely furnished apart from the table where the food is served, which is messy with crumbs from the food and doesn't have anything decorative on it. We can also deduce they are working class based on their clothing; it is fairly basic and looks as if it didn't cost that much. Finally, the fact the room is crowded and people are not lining up neatly; they do not have the patience to wait in an orderly line.
This was another photo that was taken at the seaside town of New Brighton. This image depicts a mostly empty seafront, however, it shows an area a little bit further away where the beach is not in
sight. In the foreground of the image, where the main focal point is, a man is sunbathing on the solid concrete in front of a rusted digger, where who we can presume is his daughter is trying to talk to him. There is also litter surrounding him and on the seafront behind him. The litter surrounding the area implies that the people who come there on holiday are selfish; they arrive, make a mess of the town, then don't clear it up when they leave. This could provide further connotations about the attitudes of the working class while they are on holiday, implying they are greedy and don't think of others while on holiday. Additionally, the rusted digger in the image creates a contrast between the peace and leisure of the seaside, and the digger, which represents industry and productivity. However, the digger is rusted, which implies it's not used anymore, and that not a lot of construct work is done there anymore, perhaps due to the relaxed nature of the people who live there and go on holiday there. Then, there is another contrast made between the man sunbathing, who is wearing almost nothing, and the man in the background, who is wearing a formal jacket. This suggest that while the working classes go there for leisure, there are people there who are working in higher paying jobs that are either living there or visit there. This is a clear contrast between the working class and the middle class.
