Thatcher's Children
By (Author) Craig Easton
GOST Books
GOST Books
1st February 2023
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Photojournalism and documentary photography
779.99427085092
Hardback
136
Width 211mm, Height 265mm
Thatchers Children was born out of a series first made in 1992 focusing on two parents and six children living in a hostel for homeless families in Blackpool, England. The project was made in response to a speech by Peter Lilley, then Secretary of State for Social Security, in which he announced his determination to close down the something-for-nothing society. French newspaper Libration dispatched a journalist to northern England to find out what this society looked like, and Easton was commissioned to take the accompanying photographs. His resulting monochrome images of the overcrowded two-bedroom council flat in Blackpool sparked a reaction by both the public and the press. His images attached human faces and nuanced realities to a group of people casually maligned by politicians and media as an underclass of scroungers.
Craig Eastons work is deeply rooted in the documentary tradition. He shoots long-term documentary projects exploring issues around social policy, identity and a sense of place. He often working collaboratively with others to incorporate words, pictures and audio in a research-based practice that weaves a narrative between contemporary experience and history.