Photographs by Melanie Friend
Introduction by Hilary Roberts
Essay by Pippa Oldfield
Hardback, 96 pages
29.5 cm x 24.5 cm
40 colour plates
Published by Dewi Lewis Publishing (Manchester) and Impressions Gallery (Bradford) 2013
Introduction by Hilary Roberts
Essay by Pippa Oldfield
Hardback, 96 pages
29.5 cm x 24.5 cm
40 colour plates
Published by Dewi Lewis Publishing (Manchester) and Impressions Gallery (Bradford) 2013
Published to coincide with the exhibition at Impressions Gallery, Bradford, 14 September to 13 November 2013, curated by Pippa Oldfield.
The Home Front examines the relationship between leisure and the military in the UK, in particular the air shows that take place at Royal Air Force bases and in the skies above our seaside resorts.
Air shows are a fun day out for the family. On the ground, tank rides are on offer and armed forces’ recruitment drives afford children an opportunity to indulge in their fascination with guns. There are elements of fantasy and the carnivalesque here and a clear disconnect between this ‘play’ and the actual effect of weapons. In Friend’s photographs the beach and the landscape become uneasy, surreal spaces, temporarily militarized by the fleeting presence and roar of fighter jets. Civilian aircraft displays are interwoven with military ones, whilst nostalgia for World War II is evoked by the presence of ‘war birds’ such as the Lancaster bomber, only to be followed by the ‘shock and awe’ displays of contemporary fighter jets such as the Tornado, recently deployed in Libya and Afghanistan.
Air shows are a fun day out for the family. On the ground, tank rides are on offer and armed forces’ recruitment drives afford children an opportunity to indulge in their fascination with guns. There are elements of fantasy and the carnivalesque here and a clear disconnect between this ‘play’ and the actual effect of weapons. In Friend’s photographs the beach and the landscape become uneasy, surreal spaces, temporarily militarized by the fleeting presence and roar of fighter jets. Civilian aircraft displays are interwoven with military ones, whilst nostalgia for World War II is evoked by the presence of ‘war birds’ such as the Lancaster bomber, only to be followed by the ‘shock and awe’ displays of contemporary fighter jets such as the Tornado, recently deployed in Libya and Afghanistan.
The Home Front is introduced by Hilary Roberts, Head Curator of Photography at the Imperial War Museum and includes an essay by Pippa Oldfield, Head of Programme at Impressions Gallery, Bradford, and curator of the exhibition.