Victoria

In Tynemouth where I live is a monument to Queen Victoria. The monument sits at the entrance to a small park, and Victoria looks down Front Street towards Tynemouth Priory and Castle. The monument is surrounded by a small pedestrian area and four wooden seats.

It is here that I often sit to enjoy my regular drink of hot chocolate. During this time I have noted the number of people who encounter Victoria in one way or another. There are those like myself who stop to sit for a while, those who walk through the park and pass by Victoria, and those who stop to take time to look at the monument and read the inscription on its base. While Victoria sees them all, not all see Victoria.

I have often thought it would be interesting to photograph the people who encounter Victoria, to ask them to pose with her to see what such a collection would look like. In late May 2022, in the lead up to Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the bronze part of the Queen Victoria monument was cleaned. I decided that with a clean Victoria and the imminent Platinum Jubilee weekend, there was no better time to go ahead and take the photographs.

So between 10am and 4pm on 4th June 2022 I spent a day with Victoria. These are a few of the 100+ photographs I took of local residents and visitors who agreed to pose with her.

The poses are all their own. I hope you enjoy looking at them.