Title | Best of British
Artist | PETER DENCH
Peter Dench was made in England in 1972 on the feast of Saint George, the patron saint of this great nation. He shares a birthday with William Shakespeare, arguably the greatest Englishman that has ever lived. For the first 18 years of Dench’s life, home was never more than a few minutes’ walk from the seaside. Weighing into the world at a sizeable 10lb 2ozs, from the first breath sea salt filled his nostrils, the sound of seagulls burst his eardrums and saturated colours startled the retina; deck chairs, Punch and Judy, arcades, bumper boats. Dench lived for the seaside; this was his introduction to England and he was hooked.
Having had the privilege to work on assignment in more than 50 countries across the planet, it is to England he consistently points his lens. It is his passion and his home. In 1998 Dench started out on a photographic project to document the country and the people that have shaped him. The photographs take us to famous parts of the country, such as Lord’s cricket ground, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and Blackpool – where Dench shows us an old couple snogging with the tower as a backdrop. But the pictures also introduce us to some of England’s more unusual events, such as the War & Peace Show in Beltring, Kent – which calls itself “the largest military vehicle spectacular in the world”, and gives civilians a licence to dress up as Nazi soldiers and drive around in tanks. Dench caught many of the uniformed shenanigans, but also, more poingnantly took portraits of women kitted out as 1940s British housewives, complete with a bemused real child in a vintage pram. And he went to Banbury, Oxfordshire, for the annual Hobby Horse Festival, which is attended by those who enjoy dressing up as horses for the purposes of morris-dancing. The looks on the faces of the Banbury public, as these equine impersonators trot and prance among them, are priceless.
Mostly Dench was welcomed, occasionally threatened, only once punched in the face. Photographing for the project he’s had to wear a pink wig, a Spider-Man costume and, perhaps most surprisingly, on one occasion nothing at all. 144 photographs from Dench’s English odyssey have been published in a book by Emphas.is. England Uncensored is a laugh-out-loud romp through this often badly behaved nation. A comprehensive portrait of a first decade of 21st century England. It’s not an idealised brochure of a green and pleasant land; it is the truth, warts and all.
An edit of prints from England Uncensored will be on display at White Cloth Gallery from 5th July 2012 to 13th September 2012 as part of our Best of British celebration.