After graduating from art college, the rise of popularised reality TV such as Big Brother, Pop Idol, X factor, Next Top Model, led me to explore the Miss England competion which was demonised for the same judgemental process, albeit relying on beauty as opposed to talent. During 2004 I visited a number of regional contests which lead to the Miss England final won by Danielle Lloyd.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I found the events to be a surreal experience and whilst it was my intitial intention to do a number of Straight Up portraits at each venue, I found myself shooting during the preparation time.

The project received an award from the Arts Council and publicity through publication alongside several exhibtions during 2005. The work is now in my archive, all photographed on Kodak medium format ©Ivan Jones