I went to see the exhibition of these photographs at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool today and was blown away. They were fantastic. I am a fan of photographs that portray the essence of an era, I must admit, but these had special meaning to me as it reminded me of my early years playing in Wavertree, Liverpool in the late 60s/early 70s. Kids using their terraced street as a playground, whole families sitting on their doorsteps, a near total absence of cars, using any kind of street furniture as an object to use in a game. All great memories. Something that shocked me is the poverty that could be seen behind the smiles in these photographs, I don't think I ever realised things were that grim, yet I remember playing on flattened rubble near to where I lived and I was only 5/6 years old, little chance of that happening now. My major disappointment with this book which I would ask the publishers/author/photographer to address is the layout. Whilst the photographs themselves are stunning and speak a thousand words, when that same photograph is spread across two pages its effect is lost in the 'twighlight zone' of the crease in the middle. A real shame. I think to put a single photograph on a single page and perhaps say something of how/why/where it was taken on the other page would have been better, just a thought. I hate to be so picky, but it ruined my enjoyment of some wonderful snapshots of a moment in time. Well done Paul, at 27 you did a marvelous job.
