Paddy Summerfield is known for his series of black and white images, shot on 35mm film.

In The Holiday Pictures, he shows beach life at the British seaside: children and parents, babies and teenagers, people of all ages and from all over, in families, in couples and crowds, or isolated and alone under sunlit skies; we see them bored or lost in thought, dozing or daydreaming, caught up in play or watching sky and sea. They cross the sands, they wander along promenades and piers, and endlessly photograph, making holiday memories.

With The Holiday Pictures, Summerfield tells us our own story, a primal and universal story of the generations at the sea’s edge, looking inwardly at their own feelings, and looking out to the horizons and skies. And the photo sequences imply other narratives, as if someone has walked into the next frame, as if the wave that curls in one picture is seen breaking in the next, where children splash and play.