#3 Richard Billingham

Richard Billingham
born 1970 in Birmingham. Lives and work in Brighton.

Richard Billingham, still an art student, wanted to be a painter. He started taking snapshots of his family in their council flat. The photographs were crude and sincere, starting with B/W and then turning to colour. Attention was drawn on the textures and fabrics, varied patterns giving great visual results. Yet his intentions were only to make paintings from the photographs. His first book of photographs, Ray's a Laugh rocketted him to success as a photographer in the 1990s. It all came quite unexpectedly for Billingham. Feeling he has exploited the snapshot aesthetic enough, Billingham is shooting in 6x7 medium format since 2000, concentrating on nature, landscapes and more abstract kinds of work to turn away from the snapshot. How long will it take for him not to be associated to the snapshot anymore?
Billingham won the Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize in 1997 and was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2001.




Untitled, 1994


Untitled, (Dog Licking Floor), 1995
cibachrome mounted on aluminum
41 1/3 x 62 1/4"


Untitled, (Liz's Kitten), 1995
cibachrome mounted on aluminum
19 4/3 x 29 1/2 "


Untitled, 1995


Ethiopian Landscape III, 2001


Untitled n.13, Black Country, 2003

An exhibition of his new work, Black Country, is on at the Anthony Reynolds Gallery in London. 24 April - 28 May.
60 Great Marlborough St, W1F 7BG