Simon Roberts travelled the coastline of Britain to create a photographic record of the country’s remaining pleasure piers, in homage to these monuments of Victorian engineering and eccentricity. The book, Pierdom, is introduced by Francis Hodgson. Roberts documented the piers in his signature landscape style, echoing the aesthetic and tone of his earlier book We English, loosely following in the footsteps of Francis Frith, whose company made the last major photographic survey of these peculiarly British structures.

The pleasure pier follows the story of Britain’s relationship to the seaside: from the early links with the Romantics, to the engineering feats and technical advancement of the Industrial Revolution. The piers bear witness to the growth of the coast as a pleasure destination for a monied elite, and to working-class enthusiasm for the seaside brought on by the railways and bank holidays. Britain’s piers also trace changing economic fortunes, from post-war boom to economic downturn, and now a slow re-awakening of appreciation for these cultural and historic landmarks.

At the turn of the twentieth century, almost a hundred piers existed; by the time of the book, only about half remained and several face an uncertain future. Some are modest structures, others elegant and exotic, thrusting out into the sea with characteristic Victorian aplomb.

Simon Roberts was selected by the UK Parliament in 2010 as the official Election Artist to record the General Election. He has exhibited widely, with solo shows including the National Media Museum, Bradford; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai. His work is held in collections including George Eastman House, the Deutsche Börse Collection and the Wilson Centre for Photography. His previous books include Motherland (2007) and We English (2009). Hodgson, who wrote the introduction, is photography critic for the Financial Times and former Head of Photographs at Sotheby’s, London. Published by Dewi Lewis Publishing in 2013, the hardcover has 160 pages and 81 colour plates, measuring 246 x 305 mm.