Last orders at the bar: The demise of the Great British Pub - An exhibition of photographic works by Chris Etchells

About

Just because something is broken doesn't mean it is not beautiful. The pub is a symbol of Britain. It provides us with a sense of place, of community and best if all a welcoming place in which to enjoy a pint. The series ‘Last orders at the Bar' documents the loss of the traditional British pub. Each image presents us with a once thriving hub of the community, now empty and alone. Whether nestled within a busy street, or hidden away within a forgotten rural setting; amongst the demolition and dereliction lays architectural gems sodden with memories of times past. Each image pertains to a lost charm ravaged by twenty-first century life. On one level this exhibition is emphasising the juxtaposition of the 'ordinary' and the ‘everyday' through the filter of Etchells' creative lens. The decline of the traditional pub refers back to a bygone era. Is it the loss of a mundane place that concerns us or is it simply our nostalgia for such places? Implicit within these images is a temporal sense of narrative history: Someone somewhere will have an experience, a memory, or a story to tell about the time spent in one of these pubs. These photographs act not as an obituary for the British public house, but as a petition against their decline as well as a testament to a different epoch. Chris Etchells was born in New Mills, Derbyshire in 1979. He qualified as a press photographer in 1997 and has lived and worked in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire for the last 12 years. www.chrisetchells.co.uk