Ladies Days and Boozy Nights: A Summer Season With The English

 

According to the English entertainer Noël Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun. Nowadays English women go too, also bringing their horses, sometimes their children and often massive bottles of booze.

British photographer Peter Dench captured ‘The English Summer Season’ in the second decade of the  21st Century. Spotting the English, Peter went on a cultural safari, watching the natives at the Henley Royal Regatta, Cartier Polo, Epsom and Royal Ascot.

 

“The process is as simple as swinging my legs out of bed, with my bag of Olympus cameras over my shoulder and documenting what I see at an event from beginning, to the often very messy end.”

– Peter Dench

 

“The events I’ve portrayed were once the preserve of the rich upper classes, but through the years, have become open to a much broader audience. The rules of society have been rewritten. With this reportage, my intention is to capture the humour, the entertainment and the downright craziness of the scenes I have encountered in a light-hearted but truthful manner.”

– Peter Dench

 

“If I can travel the world and make people laugh, then that is a fine way to live. And, if I can do all that with a drink in my hand, then that is the life for me.”

– Peter Dench

 

“It was important for my photography on the English to document what was familiar from my youth and also to document what I had no idea about; posh schools, social summer events, jollies and jamborees; to create a rounded look at the English both geographically and socially.”

– Peter Dench (via)

 

Via:  Fistfulofbooks, ‘The English Summer Season’ by Peter Dench at London’s Wex Photo Video Gallery.