AT THE FRONT


The seaside resort, New Brighton is a suburb of Wallasey and is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, a diverse and proud borough surrounded by the River Mersey, Irish Sea, and the River Dee. In the mid-nineteenth century New Brighton started its transformation from a well-known smuggling and marine salvaging hotspot to a desirable and prosperous residential area and seaside resort. In 1830 James Atherton purchased 170 Acres of land in New Brighton, known as Rock Point, and housing began to spread across the once void hillsides.

 

It was during the latter half of the nineteenth century that New Brighton was established as a holiday and day trip destination for nearby towns. Large houses were converted into inexpensive hotels allowing day-trippers and holiday makers from places such as Liverpool, Lancashire, and Chester to escape from the hardships of the nineteenth century everyday life and take advantage of the developing recreational amenities and seascapes of an accessible utopia.

 

As New Brighton entered the twentieth century, it witnessed a rollercoaster of events with World War One and World War Two taking its toll on the once thriving seaside resort. The New Brighton Tower was opened in 1900 and then closed in 1919, leaving only the base of the tower left (The Tower Ballroom) which survived until 1969. The Tower Ballroom brought international groups to New Brighton, such as the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and many more. Shortly after the closure of The Tower Ballroom, New Brighton sadly faced a series of unfortunate events. The Ferries that transported Liverpudlians to New Brighton ceased in 1971, the promenade pier was demolished in 1978, despite several attempts of saving the much-loved pier, and the open-air swimming pool closure in 1990.

 

In 1986, New Brighton had minimal amenities, Margaret Thatcher’s ‘Monetarism’ meant that many working-class families were struggling to live, the whole country was recovering from a deep recession and 11.3% of British people were unemployed. It was a hard time for most people, and despite the decline in amenities, New Brighton was still a place for all to enjoy, a place to escape the troubles and stresses of everyday life.

 

It was at this point in New Brighton’s timeline that Tom Wood and Martin Parr were photographing New Brighton. Two very different photographers, with different approaches to documenting and portraying the day trippers and holiday makers of New Brighton. Parrs classic work on New Brighton being referred to as “savage” by the British Journal on Photography and Woods depiction orientating towards a more sympathetic and gentler portrayal.

 

As we moved away from an era of Thatcherism, the 21st century seen new hopes for New Brighton. In 2008, phase one of an extensive regeneration seen new amenities being built, a rise in day trippers and holiday makers, hordes of families sunbathing on the golden sands of the beach, and the once desolate arcades, awash with children again. Fast forwarding to 2019, New Brighton seen a flurry of independent businesses, a revolution led by Danny Davies, a local entrepreneur with a grand plan of making New Brighton great again, bringing a sense of community and contemporary art to the much-loved seaside resort.

 

It is throughout this period of transformation, that Quayle began documenting New Brighton in his passionate monograph, At the Front.

 

At The Front is an ongoing project in its twelfth year of production and explores the multifaceted regeneration of the much-loved northern seaside resort, New Brighton, and the day trippers and holiday makers interacting with the continuously transforming space.

 

At The Front provides the viewer with a sense of timeless nostalgia, happiness, sorrow, storytelling, and change. Quayle strives to photograph New Brighton empathetically and authentically. A vital factor of Quayle’s work is that he endeavours to photograph as a participant rather than an observer, engaging with and understanding the people he photographs, and making new connections and friendships.

 

Each image within At the Front is a small narrative, small segments of lives, gathered to create a larger narrative, a visual essay of a changing and progressive New Brighton.

 

Typical of Quayle’s monographs, At the Front utilises a hybrid analogue/ digital image making process, solely photographing on photographic film, and then scanning and printing images from the hand processed negatives and transparencies. The labour intensive and material rich qualities of analogue photography allows Quayle to spend a wealth of time with each single image, studying the entire frame, and the grain that the image sits within, ensuring each frame is true to life and authentic.

 

It is these acute observations and meticulous picture making techniques, that form the heartfelt visual narrative of At the Front.

 

12_002_07_NB BOY BOARD
12_063_08_OLD WOMAN ON  WALL NB crop 1
12_062_12_PEOPLE ON WALL
13_058_25_NB ANFIELD TSHIRT CRAN FISHING
13_025_01_WHITE CAR NB
13_071_05
13_024_06 boy an mum
13_037_10_RED CAR NB
13_051_06_NB MAN SON LOOKING AT SEA
12_062_08_NB SIGN SHAPES
13_077_10
13_077_03_BOY CARDI AND CROWD NB-Edit
13_118_07_MAN AND BOY BOATING LAKE
13_115_07_MAN RED CHAIRS LOOKING AWAY
13_058_35_NB 2 GIRLS BK OF HEADS
13_058_36
13_105_05_MAN LOOKING OUT TO SEA NB
13_109_03_KICK OFFS IN CHIPPY
13_148_14 tilly and others on bus
13_141_26
13_141_21
13_141_12_BOYS BUS
13_107_03_CAR AND FLATS
13_151_05_2 BOYS HOLDING HANDS CLOSE
13_148_22
13_154_02
13_154_05
13_157_11_BUILDERS NB
13_169_07 vik
13_169_04 man walking stick and dog
13_166_20_MAN HIDEING BUSTOP
13_169_01_ meg and alfie eating ice cream
21_001_29_NB LIGHTH PPL
22_004_11 NB Beach Sand People Lpool
21_001_30 NB SIGN
13_169_17 3 boys on rocks
13_169_21_2 couples on a bench-Edit-Edit-2
13_169_11_mark nb
13_171_02_jim and faye
13_162_20 security guard and finger
14_049_23_window with writeing
13_212_09_flowers on railings
13_171_09_boy in water
13_183_08
13_173_09_DAVID
13_202_10
13_196_08
15_020_06 Man yellow pants NB
15_020_10 Adventure Park Open NB-edit
13_198_23
15_014_08 Jim Tom NB
14_060_06_charlotte life guard-Edit
14_058_06_billy becky mersey 2
20_026_06 NB BIRDS
20_026_04 NB AT NIGHT
14_058_06_billy becky mersey
16_007_30_uncle bob
18_032_04
19_021_01 flats
22_004_15 NB Lpool from Park Through Tree Arch
22_002_29 nb house
13_194_06
13_157_08 cropped
13_163_34_PEOPLE CRAB FISHING NB
PAN 20_016_01to02 NB PARK
PAN 22_004_18 to 21 NB Park
16_027_03 NB
PAN 20_016_04to09 NB STREET GRAFFITI
At The Front Cover
13_253_01_candy floss sign
14_060_06_charlotte life guard
17_022_04_tilly posing
17_022_06_tilly on grass
14_049_34_group nb
13_163_34_PEOPLE CRAB FISHING NB 2