Dates

• Existence: Active 1960 - 1979

Biography

Harold Wade was a fairground enthusiast from Oxford, who made a photographic recording of fairs around Oxford between the 1960s and 1970s.

Harold took a documentary style approach to his photography, thoroughly recording the fairs he visited from different vantage points. Rather than just taking straightforward shots of items at the fair like many of his contemporaries, Harold documented the topographical context of the fair as well as the intriguing aspects of the fair that other enthusiasts used to ignore, thus portraying content and context. This wider vision marks him out as someone whose output is significant and different.

His photographs are also quite rare as they were all shot in colour film. Colour film was an expensive novelty at the time and was out of most enthusiast’s budget.