No such thing as society.

The photography exhibition presents us with mainly a lower/working class society and the transition from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. This can be interpreted through the setting, physical appearance of people and the overall sense of visual communication we get as the audience.
For example, some people in the photos have a rugged and dirty appearance whilst socialising in a bleak or basic industrial setting’s. The position and facial expressions of the people shows positive and negative relationships and the division between people and class. From certain photographs we are able to see family businesses and people working in hospitals or factories, however they don’t seem to be more than working class society. There are photos of social gatherings such as the sea front beauty contest and celebrations in the street which convey a strong community. The photos also display the racial tensions and the industrial change through the close-up drab photo of decay and waste.
The black and white photos have a stronger impact for me rather than the coloured photos. This may be because the coloured photos give us a feel of contemporary life as Britain goes through a major transition of social history. The black and white photos could convey the era of an extremely divided society; the colour portraying the shift of social change and the black and white of the struggling past. The dreary and cold waiting rooms are a stark contrast to the busy gathering of people scrambling for hotdogs on the seaside front.
One photograph in particular stood out from the rest-‘Martin Parr, Malvern Girls’ school 1989’. This photo is one of few in colour showing us an outside gathering/event at the school. A young girl is wearing a red blazer with the motif of her school; this portrays that of a higher class compared to many of the other photos. The vivid colours such as the red of the fruit and the turquoise dress of an older lady expresses a sophisticated society amongst family and friends who all appear well dressed.
Looking at the people in the street of Cardiff had a different yet similar impact to the people in the photos. I was able to make assumptions of social class through physical appearance; however it was harder to read their class as they weren’t in similar social settings like the social events or industrial workers in the exhibition. In society today the boundaries between social classes can be blurred unlike the majority of the photos in the gallery.