Hat-tip to Simon Wallace for the post idea.

If you’ve spent any time in England during the past decade, you will probably agree with London-based photographer Peter Dench that “the English have turned drinking into a national obsession, nearly an artform”. The English are drinking alcohol younger, longer and faster than ever before. Alcohol consumption has more than doubled in the past fifty years. Binge drinking, public intoxication and alcohol fueled violence are endemic everywhere from quaint villages to towns and cities.

Dench has documented English drinking behavior in this photo essay, Drinking of England. These occasionally humorous, but mostly grim, photographs take the viewer from local pubs, charity events, festivals and everyday social events to the hospital and the grave.

Drinking of England is the perfect antidote to all of the royal wedding hokum.

All photos © Peter Dench