My most recent photography project and exhibition interrogates the complex nature of nostalgia. The British seaside is defined by a brand of nostalgia that is implicitly racist and exclusionary. It sentimentalises an idealised view of what Britain used to be. Whilst nostalgia is not always problematic it can mean that we avoid confronting major problems in the present. Too much nostalgia paralyses. However, rather than dismiss the nostalgia we feel for the coast, I argue that it can be harnessed in making more reflective photography that recasts our ideas about the seaside.  Post-Brexit and the pandemic, the temptation is to live in limbo seeking escapism while looking nostalgically back. Nowhere is this more keenly felt than at the seaside. Repetitive themes dominate seaside photography. They prevent us from seriously addressing racism, environmental issues, and the stark social divisions that characterise the seaside. I have been making images that challenge and question these repetitive, blinkered tropes.