Viva Brighton Issue #41 July 2016

THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST
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“Objects are a massive thing in my life; I feel really
emotionally attached to them,” says this month’s
cover artist, Philippa Stanton. “I used to love watching
Bagpuss - maybe that’s where it came from! I just
never want them to feel like they’ve been forgotten.”
Philippa’s collections of unusual and vintage
objects are often the subject matter of her hugely
popular Instagram feed (check it out at @5ftinf)
which now has over 480,000 followers.
The objects she’s used to illustrate this month’s
‘Holiday at Home’ theme include: a 1950s map of
all of the theatres and cinemas that were in Brighton
and Hove at the time; a series of photographs,
mocked up as Polaroids, beside the camera which
was given to her brother in 1981 (and which she’s
finally managed to get her hands on); a magnifying
glass, which belonged to her grandfather, and a
teapot made by a close friend, who is no longer able
to throw pottery after suffering a stroke. Each piece
has its own story.
“I bought the cup and saucer especially for the image,”
she says. “I
very rarely buy
something specifically
for a photograph,
but I was
thinking of places
like the Mock
Turtle and Blackbird
Tea Rooms
– they always
have that blue
and white china
and I didn’t have
any.” The flowers bring in an essence of summer,
but they are also used to give softness and texture,
Philippa explains: “Particularly if you’ve got lots of
objects, which are quite hard, in a way, flowers - and
a cup of tea - give that sense that there’s a human
being around.”
The composition of the photograph subtly reflects
the different layers which make up Brighton as a city:
“Without the colours that the map brings, the image
would be quite dark. Like that Brighton has this dark
underside to it which locals see and feel – and which
I love – but then it has all these brightly coloured
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