Born in 1885, Francis Foot had shown a fascination with photography and early gramophones not long after he first began working. Foot was based on Pitt street where his parents had a shop selling gramophones. Many of Foot’s photographs were turned into postcards, excluding the portraits.

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Analysis:

Context/Concept:

From 1905 onward, Foot was a regular visitor to the Battle of Flowers. He was one of the first photographers of the event to focus his images on the audience rather than the floats and the impressively decorated area.

The Jersey Battle of Flowers is an yearly parade that takes place along Victoria Avenue. The first Battle took place in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII. The Battle used to consist of removing flowers from their floats and throwing them into the crowd, however, this has since been stopped for health and safety reasons.

Visual:

This image shows a part of The Battle arena in which the audience and overhead decorations can be seen. Additionally, people on horseback can been seen walking through the arena. What is particularly interesting about the image is that none of the floats are shown. This is consistent with Foot’s other photographs of The Battle. The presence of people walking along the arena suggests that the photograph was taken at either the beginning or end of The Battle. However, due to the lack of flowers littering the floor, the start of The Battle is more likely.