Don’t worry this is not another article about the “B” word , the title above comes from a capture I made back in 2016 which features a Boris Johnson clown like caricature against a backdrop of partying young people on the back of a carnival float.

I have to admit that I knew the picture was significant at the time of capture but I never imagined that the sentiments expressed within the artwork would come to life the way they have , this picture is not from a protest march or a political rally, this picture was made during a innocuous annual summer carnival !

A few days earlier I had photographed The Dickens Festival at Broadstairs , with hindsight that shoot now looks like a futuristic political gaze with the governments re-adoption of Victorian values !

Make no mistake the political and social change occurring in Britain today is as damaging, if not more damaging than the de-industrialisation that occurred in the 1970’s , photographically the demise of the Ship Building, Steel and Coal industries was much easier to depict than the current twenty first century demolition of integrity and social values. The poverty and misery created by a lack of political empathy, equality and opportunity still exists today , as it did in my 1970’s teenage years on Tyneside.

The State Of Britain project relies on metaphor , humour and simple documentary photography to record the here and now , This picture captures the greatest sadness of all , despite all the bright colours , loud music and teenage optimism, no one is smiling anymore !

This party is over ?

Keep it real !

David Barrett is following the pandemic crisis from a personal perspective with the Testing Times project .

The State Of Britain series is now complete, it explores everyday life during the Brexit era and gives visual insights into British identity, aspirations and post-truth uncertainty .....

He is based in the South West of England .