Two photographers are staging an outdoor exhibition that can only be viewed from the top deck of a Brighton bus.
Martin Parr and JJ Waller’s Beside the Sea is a collection of 65 large-scale images that have been pasted on to the roofs of bus shelters across the city.
The pictures, taken over a number of decades by the two acclaimed photographers, take passengers on a journey through the British seaside as they travel through bus routes in the city.
They believe their exhibition, which is part of Brighton Festival and went on display on Tuesday, is the first of its kind.
Parr, an internationally renowned documentary photographer, said: “I love the idea of showing images on a bus shelter roof – the last thing you expect when travelling upstairs on a bus.
“Photography has the ability to be shown anywhere and this is the most original location I can think of.”
Waller, who was a street entertainer in Covent Garden before becoming a photographer, said that he had been inspired to create a bus stop roof exhibition by his trips with his mother from the age of eight.
He told the PA news agency: “She would say ‘we’re going to go to the end of the bus route’. We would go to the bus stop outside our house, go to the end of the route and get off.
“I spent hours quietly looking at the world as a kid through the window. It was like looking through the viewfinder of a camera.
“This exhibition is an extensive one, with colourful and prestigious images from Martin Parr, but it is also about how people will encounter them.”
The project involves 30 bus shelters, with vibrant vinyl pictures being pasted on to each roof.
Photographs have been taken at classic seaside locations such as Blackpool, Brighton, St Leonards, Hastings and Weston-super-Mare, as well as Benidorm.
Waller added: “One of our objectives is that this opens up a new exhibition space, a new gallery concept.
“I hope that people will see it and think they would like to do it in their own towns. It is pioneering.
“Putting the photographs on bus shelters also means people who may not visit a gallery will have access to them.”
Additional exhibitions will be displayed on seafront locations in Brighton and at Hove Museum of Creativity for those who are unable to access the top deck of a bus.
Ed Wills, managing director for Brighton and Hove Buses, which operates 222 buses across a network of 73 routes, said: “As the major bus operator in this creative seaside city, we are delighted to be showcasing seaside-themed photography from international photographer Martin Parr and popular local photographer JJ Waller.
“This exhibition gives our regular passengers the unique opportunity to enjoy an event from the Brighton Festival and gives an extra incentive to leave the car at home and take the bus.”
