Book Review: JJ Waller's Blackpool Volume 1

The book is mainly photographs taken over a year in Blackpool, the photos say so much more than words can.

Blackpool is like no other seaside place in the UK or even Europe. It is a place that you will either love or hate. Over the last few years the town has had a lot of money pumped into it: the promenade has been completely redone with stretches of greenery and there are new sculptures that show contemporary art.

What really makes Blackpool what it is are the people who go there. Photographer JJ Waller spent seven working holidays over a twelve month period taking pictures for this book. The photos say more than words ever could. There are the Dalek photos, the stag and hen party photos, the entertainment photos at the Empress Ballroom where the annual Rebellion punk festival is held every August, you can imagine that the fans are a photographer's delight and they are.

Some photos show the regeneration projects taking place in the town whilst others show the multi cultural mix of the beach on a sunny summer's day. The 3 old ladies sunbathing in the deckchairs look like they have taken root there and have not moved for years, taken against the contrast with the elegant dancers in the Tower Ballroom.

That's what makes Blackpool special, it is a town of contrasts and it can be whatever you want it to be.

The humour, the town, the tourists, the razzamatazz and the spectacle have been captured well for other generations to discover. Every time I pick up the book I discover something new on the photos I have not seen before. Marvellous stuff.

£12.99 available from:
www.curious-publishing.co.uk
Waterstones or
JJ Waller.com