Distracted girl in a bikini on a beach towel

A picture of a girl, smoking a cigarette whilst sitting on a towel on a beach whilst surrounded by other people.

Although I have described this as a beach, it seems to be a man made, concrete area at the foot of some cliffs with some steps down from a higher level. The area seems crowded, with people to the side and in front of her, but there is no indication in her expression whether she knows the other people or not – in fact, her expression is one of distraction – she seems to be gazing into the distance unaware that her photo is being taken. I wonder what was going through her mind all those years ago?

Unfortunately, this glass mounted slide has suffered a crack along the bottom corner, quite a lot of fungal growth in the emulsion and some serious colour shifts.

Update: A viewer on twitter called Stuart Pratt pointed out to me that this series of photos was almost certainly taken in Plymouth at an area called, The Royal Citadel. I’ve searched for some photos of this areas and I’m pretty sure that Stuart is correct. This photo on flickr certainly looks like the same area.