Images of life at the British seaside over the years is on display in Kent.

Seaside: Photographed is a celebration of Britain's love of the seaside, with photographs dating back as far as the 1850s, bringing a nostalgic look back to Turner Contemporary in Margate.

The major exhibition, which will tour to other galleries around the country next year, looks at the relationship between photographers, photography and the British seaside and features early photographic depictions of waves, to picture postcards and intimate holiday snaps and relaxation, with pictures by eminent photographers.

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Images of hotel life, the beach, holiday camps, dressing up and dressing down, wild waves, hotel interiors and coastlines all combine to produce a rich and constantly changing picture of the British seaside.

The curators, Val Williams and Karen Shepherdson, have included unknown works too. Exhibits include Raymond Lawson’s chronicles of family life in Whitstable in1959, Enzo Ragazzini’s images of the anarchy of the 1970 Isle of Wight festival and Stuart Griffiths’ bleak documentation of the 1990 rave scene in Brighton.

Daniel Meadows, Barry Lewis and Dafydd Jones all photographed at Butlins in the 1970s. There are also pictures of composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears, partners in music and in life.

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Curators Val Williams and Karen Shepherdson said: “Photographers’ visions are necessarily partial ones – they follow their noses, sniff out the strange and the unusual, the comic and the melancholy. They do not necessarily picture things the way that they are.”

An art work, made in collaboration with Thanet Early Years Project, is also expected to go on show.

Seaside: Photographed is Turner Contemporary’s first photographic exhibition and will tour to three other UK venues next year,

John Hansard Gallery, Grundy Art Gallery, and Newlyn Art Gallery and the Exchange.

A book Seaside: Photographed is on sale in the Turner’s shop, published by Thames & Hudson.

The exhibition runs at Turner Contemporary in Margate until Sunday, September 8. The gallery is free to enter. Details at turnercontemporary.org

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