This is the sixth edition of Street Source, a regular feature showcasing photos taken around Brighton over the course of a month by one of our photographers.
The idea is to share spontaneous moments around town – be it incidental street scenes, snapshots of people’s lives or images of the city as a landscape. Each month we’ll have images from a different photographer.
Here’s Ashley Laurence’s take on his slice of Brighton during a largely beautiful August 2016.
A glance at the calendar in early August meant I had a good feeling Brighton would have plenty to offer. I was not disappointed; it seemed that everyone was out soaking up the sun, and with no shortage of events, Brighton had a party atmosphere all month long.
Pride. With 2 ‘togs already covering the parade, I was keen to get an alternative view. Cue a back-garden alternative ‘parade party’ round my friends’ house. The parade snaked its exuberant way past the garden, creating a festival vibe. The good cheer seemed to bring people together all weekend, wherever you looked.
Best bands. The coming together of my fave local bands; Stewy from Mantras on guitar, Matt Of Empires on tambourine (both of whom are playing the SOURCE stage at Party At The Races festival), with Rowan from the mighty Kassasin Street (Portsmouth) making it a South Coast Par-tay!
Lads en route. This month I got the chance to see my beloved play at Old Trafford. Seeing how pics of Manchester would fail to keep to brief, I made my way to Whitehawk FC with my camera instead, to catch the first game of the season.
Penalty. I had several portrait shots of the fans, and chatted to a mix of characters while I was there, but couldn’t resist going for this shot in the end. Danny Mills tucks away an early penalty and the crowd go wild!
In ‘The Din’. The Whitehawk ultras have a fascinating rep for their progressive, pro-liberal take on classic football chants, which is refreshing to hear at matches. They’re passionate, and sometimes genius too: (vs Andover) – ‘you’re only known for your tunnel’. Here keys get shaken as the crowd make sure that the tin-shed ‘din’ end lives up to its name.
Brunswick Festival. It would be difficult to justify ignoring all of the street and lawn festivals happening in town, so I popped to Brunswick Park. The children’s parade was about as classic a British summertime scene as you could want.
Big kids. There were big kids there too…
Marmi360. Love it or loathe it, the i360 attracted over 100,000 people through its big, bulbous doors before the month was out, rounding off my theme of people coming together quite nicely. Plus, at least from this angle you get to see a different take on the West Pier!
Words and photos by Ashley Luke Laurence
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