https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/jan/19/welsh-seaside-images-controversy-michael-bennett-in-pictures Skip to main content The Guardian - Back to home Contribute Subscribe Contribute * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle [ ] Show More * News + US news + Elections 2020 + World news + Environment + Soccer + US politics + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters * Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL * Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * Lifestyle + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money [ ] What term do you want to search? Search with google * Make a contribution * Subscribe * US edition + switch to the UK edition + switch to the Australia edition + switch to the International edition * Search jobs * Digital Archive * Guardian Puzzles app * The Guardian app * Video * Podcasts * Pictures * Inside the Guardian * Guardian Weekly * Crosswords * Facebook * Twitter * Search jobs * Digital Archive * Guardian Puzzles app [2332] 'Too negative!': The Welsh seaside images that caused a controversy - in pictures Life's a beach ... shelter at night Photograph: Michael Bennett 'Too negative!': The Welsh seaside images that caused a controversy - in pictures * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email In 1979, Michael Bennett set out to photograph the seaside resorts of North Wales. Local critics hated the results and Bennett's work was lost ... until now Main image: Life's a beach ... shelter at night Photograph: Michael Bennett Tue 19 Jan 2021 02.00 EST * You Have Been Warned, Towyn Michael Bennett's Pier Closing Time is an extraordinarily austere document of coastal resorts in North Wales during two seasons of 1979. It had been forgotten about for 40 years but has now been rescued, restored and made available for the first time as a book. Pier Closing Time is available from Cow on the Roof Press Facebook Twitter Pinterest You Have Been Warned, TowynMichael Bennett's Pier Closing Time is an extraordinarily austere document of coastal resorts in north Wales during two seasons of 1979. It had been forgotten about for 40 years but has now been rescued, restored and made available for the first time as a book. Pier Closing Time is available from Cow on the Roof Press * Weather Information, Llandudno Pier Closing Time is on a virtual UK tour as part of Seaside: Photographed. In 2021, the exhibition hopes to tour to other places with a connection to the seaside, including Newlyn Art Gallery and the Exchange (13 February to 5 June) and the Grundy, Blackpool (27 June to 5 September) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Weather information * Kiosk, Rhyl Bennett's work foreshadowed a significant decline in visitors to such resorts throughout the 1980s Facebook Twitter Pinterest Coke Orange Slush * Beach Shelter Mournful of a lost world, always ironic, this is a bittersweet portrait of seaside resorts in and out of season Facebook Twitter Pinterest Beach Shelter * * Beach Shelter, Rhyl The project arose when the Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno was due to reopen in 1979 after decades of closure. Its director commissioned a photographic project from Bennett, with the intention of capturing the atmosphere of North Wales coastal resorts in winter Facebook Twitter Pinterest Beach Shelter Rhyl * King Size Hotdogs, Rhyl With a working title of Anatomy of Melancholy, an exhibition was scheduled soon after the gallery's refurbishment and reopening. Bennett's project was ultimately deemed likely to cause funding problems by showing the region's resorts in too negative a light Facebook Twitter Pinterest King Size HotdogsWith a working title of Anatomy of Melancholy, an exhibition was scheduled soon after the gallery's refurbishment and reopening. Bennett's project was ultimately deemed likely to cause funding problems by showing the region's resorts in too negative a light * Family Group, Rhyl The solution put forward by the new artistic director, Clive Adams, was to commission images of the same places in summer, in the hope that the show would be more upbeat. Yet while summer brought more people to the resort areas, there was no fundamental change in character to the images. Fearful that the finished show would be a catastrophe, Adams asked amateur photographers to exhibit their own work alongside Bennett's, to counter its perceived pessimism Facebook Twitter Pinterest Family group Rhyl * Kissing couple, Rhyl Renamed The Road to Barmouth, the exhibition opened in 1980. It received hostile local newspaper reviews, and on closure it was dismantled and forgotten Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kissing couple, Rhyl * * On the Beach, Towyn The original film negatives have been restored, digitised and remastered for this book Facebook Twitter Pinterest On Beach Towyn * Rollerskating at Butlin's Butlin's Pwllheli was open from 1947 until 1987 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rollerskating at ButlinsButlin's Pwllheli was open from 1947 until 1987 * Bus Station, Colwyn Bay The project would have stayed out of sight for ever had it not been for Val Williams and Karen Shepherdson, curators of Seaside Photographed, an exhibition first seen at Margate's Turner Contemporary museum in 2019 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bus Station, Colwyn Bay * Pier Closing Time Following a public call for submissions, Bennett sent images from the North Wales project. You can read more about it here Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pier Closing Time * * Family in Snack Bar, Prestatyn Writing in the Observer, critic Laura Cumming said: 'Michael Bennett's black and white photographs from the late 1970s show seasides from Llandudno to St Leonards as melancholy and austere in every season, homing in on the weather-beaten faces of solitary workers - the signalman, the kiosk girl, the caretaker lugging the barrier to a pier in dark rain at closing time. They are starkly poignant laments' Facebook Twitter Pinterest Family in Snack Bar Topics * Photography * Exhibitions * Wales More galleries Most popular * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle + About us + Contact us + Complaints & corrections + SecureDrop + Work for us + Privacy policy + Cookie policy + Terms & conditions + Help + All topics + All writers + Digital newspaper archive + Facebook + YouTube + Instagram + LinkedIn + Twitter + Newsletters + Advertise with us + Guardian Labs + Search jobs Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Contribute Subscribe Back to top (c) 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Close * [p] [pv]