With their suit and jacket, socks and knee-length skirt, this older couple – soaking up the bank holiday sunshine on Brighton beach – could be from the 1950s. In fact, this photograph was taken in August 1980. The career of press photographer Ted West, who went by the grander-sounding E Hamilton West, spanned over 40 years, the last 26 of which were spent at the Guardian. He covered late 20th century Britain in all its guises: skinheads, Ugandan Asian immigrants, politicians from Tony Benn to Mo Mowlam, a car bomb in Whitehall – even Abba. West, who died in 2011, started his working life using plate cameras and glass negatives, and ended it using early digital photography.
Words: Hannah Booth
Specifications
- Exclusive collectible fine-art print from the Guardian & Observer
- Presented on museum-grade C-Type matt photographic paper stock
- Guaranteed archival quality for 100+ years
- 30x40cm print size, dimensions include border for easy framing
- Delivered to your door, supplied unframed
- Printed in the UK by theprintspace
- Global shipping available
