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Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight
The John Hinde Butlin's Photographs
Introduction by Martin Parr.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the John Hinde Studio, based in Dublin, produced a series of postcards to be sold at Butlin's holiday camps throughout the British Isles. Famous for their “hi-de-hi” catchphrase, redcoat hosts and bargain packages with all entertainment included, Butlin's annually hosted over a million holidaying Britons throughout the 1970s. It was the challenging job of two German (Elmar Ludwig and Edmund Nägele) and one British photographer (David Noble) to execute the photographs to Hinde's rigorous formula and standards. With innovative use of color and elaborate staging (the trademarks of a John Hinde postcard), each photograph is painstakingly produced, with often large casts of real holidaymakers acting their allocated roles in these narrative tableaux of the Butlin's quiet lounges, ballrooms and Beachcomber bars. Shot with large-format cameras and lit like a film set, these photographs were an extraordinary undertaking in their production values, and helped John Hinde become one of the most successful postcard publishers in the world. Most of the John Hinde Butlin's photographs have only ever been published as postcards. This new affordable edition of Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight, first published to critical acclaim and popular success in 2002, is published to mark the 75th anniversary of Butlins.
Featured image, A Corner of the Beachcomber Bar, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, by Edmund Nägele is reproduced from Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight:
The John Hinde Butlin's Photographs.
"Each image offers everything a good photo should. They are entertaining, acutely observed, and have great social historical value. They appear casually taken, yet we know from the photographers how difficult they were to stage. As with all Hinde imagery, they show an idealized view of the world, and, after the passage of time, acquire the power of a lost dream. The most remarkable thing of all is that the cards were painstakingly produced not for any aspirational ideas or as great art, but as humble postcards to sell for a few pence to holidaymakers." -- Martin Parr, excerpted from the Introduction to Our Tue Intent Is All for Your Delight.
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 7.5 in. / 128 pgs / 56 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $29.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $39.95 ISBN: 9781905712205 PUBLISHER: Chris Boot AVAILABLE: 6/30/2011 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA ME
Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight The John Hinde Butlin's Photographs
Published by Chris Boot. Introduction by Martin Parr.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the John Hinde Studio, based in Dublin, produced a series of postcards to be sold at Butlin's holiday camps throughout the British Isles. Famous for their “hi-de-hi” catchphrase, redcoat hosts and bargain packages with all entertainment included, Butlin's annually hosted over a million holidaying Britons throughout the 1970s. It was the challenging job of two German (Elmar Ludwig and Edmund Nägele) and one British photographer (David Noble) to execute the photographs to Hinde's rigorous formula and standards. With innovative use of color and elaborate staging (the trademarks of a John Hinde postcard), each photograph is painstakingly produced, with often large casts of real holidaymakers acting their allocated roles in these narrative tableaux of the Butlin's quiet lounges, ballrooms and Beachcomber bars. Shot with large-format cameras and lit like a film set, these photographs were an extraordinary undertaking in their production values, and helped John Hinde become one of the most successful postcard publishers in the world. Most of the John Hinde Butlin's photographs have only ever been published as postcards. This new affordable edition of Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight, first published to critical acclaim and popular success in 2002, is published to mark the 75th anniversary of Butlins.
