POLITICIANS: Oh! What a Lovely Party
In today’s society, you can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world with consummate ease. However, regretfully this has placed huge restrictions on photographers who in the era before this innovation, were able to take a photograph of almost anyone and any event. Not any more. We now live in a Society where censorship is rife. Those with power and influence the politicians, the influencers, the celebrities, maintain rigid control over how they are portrayed in the public domain. They employ their own ‘tame’ photographers. These photographs, shot between 1966 and 1987, show how, for those in the world of media, photographers, journalists, TV and film, were given free access to politicians. It was a time of media democracy. Politicians would make sure they were highly visible and accessible - Margaret Thatcher with her adoring fans, James Callaghan strolling along Brighton seafront, Tony Benn chatting to the protesting car workers, William Whitelaw in discussion with a delegate. Never mind how they looked - even bored, anxious or plain fed up - the message was clear don’t forget to photograph me!
