Seaside piers were virtually a
British speciality, a social phenomenon as well as an
architectural one. Sixty years ago there were dozens of them all
around the coast. At the time of this books publication, only
seventeen survived in anything like their original form, and the
future of them is shaky in more senses than one.
Richard Fischer, one of Germany's
leading young photographers, captures their paradoxical beauty in
a series of eighty remarkable colour pictures that stress both
their individuality and their collective appeal: a strange mixture
of fragile charm and robust vulgarity. As subjects for the
photographer they have few equals, and the British weather, while
not always kind, adds its own contribution in terms of light and
mood. An introduction by the historian John Walton explains how
and why they were built, their shifting fortunes and their
continuing place in the social scene.
Condition:
Like new/unread, with fine dustjacket. |
