UK Uncensored by Peter Dench

For the past week he’d been teasing us with his helpdench hastag on twitter, never letting on what was coming, but here it is!

The fantastic Peter Dench, contributing editor of Hungry Eye Magazine, Creative Director of the upcoming White Cloth Gallery and recent addition to getty reportage (phew!), has recently announced an upcoming 144 paged book of his UK Uncensored project using crowd funding platform emphas.is. And he’s wanting photography consumers the world over to help make it a reality!

Here’s some notes from the emphas.is website:

“England Uncensored documents the ordinary and the extraordinary. It explores all corners, from cities to tired beaches, via nightclubs, dressing rooms, cathedrals and famous sites in the country, such as Lord’s cricket ground and Hampton Court Palace, as well as presenting some of England’s more unusual events, e.g. the War and Peace Show in Beltring, Kent – the “largest military vehicle spectacular in the world” – where civilians can dress in military uniform and carry weapons, or the central London themed disco with adults dressing in school uniform to relive the “best days of their lives.”

“Peter Dench was Made in England on the feast of Saint George, the patron Saint of England, weighing into the world at a sizeable 10lb 8oz and sharing a birthday with William Shakespeare. From day one, the salt of the English seaside filled his nostrils, the sound of seagulls burst the eardrum and saturated colours startled the retina. The south coast town of Weymouth was a violent place for the teenage Dench. A Navy base meant horny sailors were in the town centre most weekends. The train station delivered horny workers from the Midlands factories during shutdown. The locals were always horny and hungry, but mostly thirsty. Throw in around 180 bars to the mix and something had to give. Often it was his chin. This was his introduction to England and Dench loved it.”

“It is no surprise then, that despite photographing on assignment in over 50 countries, it is to England that Dench continually points his lens. It is his home and his passion. England Uncensored is an edit from ten years of shooting the English, a comprehensive portrait of the first decade of 21st century England. It is not an idealized brochure of a green and pleasant land, but more a laugh-out-loud romp through this often badly behaved nation.”

I’m personally glad to see an amazing rewards package on offer for funders too:
$25 gets you a Thank you card, $50 a Book, $120 a Collectors edition book, $500 a Book and unique print, $1000 a Book and set of 5 unique prints, $1500 a Book and personal rendezvous and with $2000 you’re a Dedicated sponsor!

As of today (1st of February) the project has 31 backers totalling more than $2000 dollars pledged so far. And this includes backers the likes of Martin Parr, Marcus Bleasdale, Simon Roberts and shortly you’re truly!

Be sure to tell your friends!

You can help fund the project on the following emphas.is page:
http://www.emphas.is/web/guest/discoverprojects?projectID=485

And if you can’t personally spare the cash, but want to help the project, help spread the word on social networks.