As you know, we are enormously enamoured by Café Royal Press and their 36 page, 14cm x 20cm, staple bound, printed and manufactured in England, weekly collections of photography. The collections are never less than endlessly fascinating. Always sparking debate. Often some thing in the corner of a frame will catch the eye. England always somehow manages to look crappy. If I wasn't poor, I'd collect them all.
Let's contrast that England, with say, Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox in the 80s, cruising around Reyner Banham's most modern metropolis on their Harley Motorcycles bathed in such a beautiful chlorofluorocarbon colored light. That world looked beautiful. I would eat the air pollution to be there. That's Mark Fisher real. Whereas back in Blighty...
I am always amazed by how dated Britain looks, everywhere, in these Café Royal collections. Uwe Bedenbecker's Brighton 1984 emphasizes that entirely. That's the South Coast I knew pretty well in 1984. I recall it seeming quite modern at the time so I am particularly astonished by Uwe's color images. There is something quite tragic about...
And I never miss the old zinc dustbin. So grotty and no wheels. Exactly how did people get their bins out. Perhaps wheelie bins heralded the advent of Britain's modernity. What did it for you?
Essential Info
Uwe Bedenbecker: Brighton 1984 from Café Royal Press here
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