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Brian Griffin (photographer)

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Brian Griffin
Born(1948-04-13)13 April 1948[1]
Birmingham, England
Died27 January 2024(2024-01-27) (aged 75)
Rotherhithe, London, England
Known forPhotography
StyleSurrealist
AwardsRoyal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal
2013
Websitebriangriffin.co.uk

Brian James Griffin (13 April 1948 – 27 January 2024) was a British photographer. His portraits of 1980s pop musicians led to him being named the "photographer of the decade" by The Guardian in 1989.[2][3] His work is held in the permanent collections of the Arts Council, British Council, Victoria and Albert Museum and National Portrait Gallery, London.[4][5][6]

Early life

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Griffin was born in Birmingham on 13 April 1948.[1][7] He grew up in Lye, a town in the Black Country,[8][9] an area of the British Midlands, and attended Halesowen Technical School.[8][9] At age 16, he began working in a factory as a trainee draughtsman.[4][5] He spent the next few years working in engineering for the British Steel Corporation,[10][8] first making conveyors and later manufacturing and installing pipework in nuclear power stations.[6][11] After joining a local camera club,[4][12] Griffin studied (along with contemporaries Charlie Meecham, Daniel Meadows, Peter Fraser and Martin Parr)[13][14] photography at the Manchester School of Art,[7] which became part of Manchester Polytechnic whilst he was there and from which he graduated in 1972.[4][8][10][15]

Career

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After college, Griffin moved to London to work as a fashion photographer. At the recommendation of Lester Bookbinder he instead took a job as a corporate photographer for the London-based business magazine Management Today,[6][15][16][17] and later other publications, including Accountancy Age, Computing, and Marketing.[10] His 1974 photograph "Rush Hour, London Bridge" brought him national recognition;[9] a print is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.[9] By the 1980s, Griffin had become known as a corporate photography expert.[15] His first solo show was in London in 1981.[11]

Around this same time, Griffin began working in the music industry, landing his first music gigs with Stiff Records.[6] His work shooting businessmen translated well to many of the groups of the time who also dressed in suits and ties, such as the Jam and Elvis Costello and the Attractions.[10] Over the next few years, he photographed such acts as Siouxsie Sioux, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Toyah Willcox, R.E.M., Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Ringo Starr, Queen and Peter Gabriel.[15][11] His work appeared on many album covers of the era,[6][8] notably the first four album releases of Echo & the Bunnymen, and Depeche Mode's A Broken Frame (1982), which is often cited as one of the best color photographs ever shot.[10] The photograph also appears on the cover of Life's 1990 edition of "World's Best Photographs 1980–1990".[10] His work appeared in publications such as Esquire (US), Rolling Stone, Radio Times, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Observer, and Car.[10]

Griffin, whose father died from lung cancer related to his factory job, drew upon the backgrounds of his photographic subjects, many of whom were workers and tradesmen.[4] This led to his developing a photographic style that has since been referred to as capitalist realism. Although the term has been used to describe other forms of art, he is credited with being the first to develop the style in photography.[4][6][18] Griffin himself was unsure of who came up with the term.[12] His work has been described as being influenced by Renaissance masters, Symbolism, and Surrealism, with "film noir" lighting,[15] and he cited David Lynch as an influence.[19]

In 1989, The Guardian named Griffin "photographer of the decade". In the same year, he left photography behind to focus on TV commercials, music videos, and films.[6][8][15][11] For many years, he owned a production company where he worked as a commercial director.[4][5] Griffin returned to stills in the early 2000s,[6][8][11] shooting "People and the City" to help Birmingham be named a European Capital of Culture.[15][9] He shot a documentary for Paul McCartney (2004) and worked on numerous advertising campaigns, including those for British Airways and Sony.[15] In 2010, his portraiture retrospective, Face to Face, was exhibited in Birmingham.[5]

In 2017, Griffin was invited to undertake an artist's residency in Béthune-Bruay, northern France.[20] His work led him to photograph people such as British politician Sebastian Coe, actor Helen Mirren, actor and comedian Jonathan Ross, and fashion designer/businesswoman Dame Vivienne Westwood.[4]

Personal life and death

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Griffin died on 27 January 2024, at the age of 75.[21][22]

Publications

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  • Brian Griffin. Self-published, 1978. Photographs by Griffin, drawings by Barney Bubbles. Edition of 500 copies.
  • Power: British Management in Focus. London: Travelling Light, 1981. ISBN 9780906333136. With a text by Richard Smith and an introduction by Peter Parker.
  • Open: Twenty One Photographs. Black Pudding, 1986. Edition of 350 copies ("standard edition") plus 65 copies ("collector's edition").
  • Work. Central Books, 1989. ISBN 978-0951385913[23]
  • The Black Kingdom. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2013. ISBN 978-1907893346.[24]
  • Pop. London: Gost, 2017. ISBN 978-1-910401-13-2. With essays by Terry Rawlings and Paul Gorman.[16]
  • Spud. London: Gost, 2018. ISBN 978-1-910401-21-7.[25]

Exhibitions

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Awards

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Collections

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Griffin's work is held in the following permanent collections:

References

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  1. ^ a b "An Audience with Brian Griffin". Street Level Photoworks. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b Stone, Mee-Lai (6 June 2019). "Inside the surreal mind of Brian Griffin – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Fish guts and marching powder: Brian Griffin's rock photography – in pictures". The Guardian. 14 November 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Never surrender: Brian Griffin about his life as a photographer". British Journal of Photography. 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Brian Griffin". Format Festival. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sim, David (18 October 2017). "Pop! Explore Brian Griffin's era-defining photos of Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and more". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b Pulver, Andrew (16 June 2010). "Photographer Brian Griffin's best shot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Holder, Bev (18 March 2016). "Renowned Black Country photographer Brian Griffin wows New York". Stourbridge News. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e Meredith, Ruth (16 February 2016). "Birmingham photographer Brian Griffin's stunning images to wow New York". Birmingham Live. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Photographer Brian Griffin on Creating His Iconic Album Shots". Amateur Photographer. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Brian Griffin: capitalist realism – Britain during the Thatcher years". Yahoo! News. 8 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  12. ^ a b Rosenberg, David (18 February 2016). "Capturing Thatcher-Era "Capitalist Realism" in England". Slate. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  13. ^ "The Daniel Meadows Archives". Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), PARC Projects, Photography and the Archive Research Centre.
  14. ^ Williams, Val (2002). Martin Parr. London: Phaidon. ISBN 0-7148-3990-6.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Plumridge, Jo (13 December 2011). "Photographer Profile – Brian Griffin". Digital Photography Review. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  16. ^ a b Lunn, Oliver (13 November 2017). "legendary photographer brian griffin recalls capturing his favourite 80s music icons". i-D. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  17. ^ Holland, Michael (23 June 2021). "Life Through a Legend's Lens". Southwark News. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  18. ^ Pollack, Maika (23 July 2014). "Living With Pop: A Reproduction of Capitalist Realism' at Artists Space". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014. It was a reaction to Pop from a postwar Germany divided between East and West.
  19. ^ Burrows, Tim (27 September 2012). "A Broken Frame at 30". The Quietus. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  20. ^ Clifford, Eva (24 October 2018). "SPUD! Brian Griffin on potato-growing in former WW1 battlefields". British Journal of Photography. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  21. ^ Murray, Robin (30 January 2024). "Photographer Brian Griffin Has Died". Clash Music. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  22. ^ Whitmore, Greg (22 February 2024). "Brian Griffin obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Brian Griffin at Steven Kasher Gallery". Musée Magazine. 27 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  24. ^ "Photography book: The Black Kingdom, By Brian Griffin". The Independent. 16 March 2013. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  25. ^ "SPUD! Brian Griffin on potato-growing in former WW1 battlefields". British Journal of Photography. 24 October 2018. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  26. ^ Arnot, Chris (4 May 2011). "Back in focus: photographer celebrates the Black Country". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  27. ^ "Heavy labours: Photographer Brian Griffin revisits his Black Country roots". The Guardian. 4 May 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  28. ^ Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society https://rps.org/about/awards/history-and-recipients/honorary-fellowship/ Archived 12 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ "NoW in running to defend Press Awards title". Press Gazette. 26 February 2006. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012.
  30. ^ "Centenary Medal". rps.org. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  31. ^ "CR Annual Best in Book: Design". Creative Review. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  32. ^ "Your Search Results". collections.vam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  33. ^ "Brian Griffin – National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
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