For some reason, I have not featured Paul Graham in this series yet, I am not quite sure why, as he definitely is one of my inspirations, as a photographer for me he has always made thought provoking work and he has been lucky as he has managed to create the opportunities to be exhibited widely in some very high profile art institutions. He has a way of working that engages with life out in the world, which I find interesting. He is also a photographer who has thought deeply about the art of photography and how it does what it does.

YouTube videos with and about Paul Graham

“Photography lacks intentionality.” | Photographer Paul Graham | Louisiana Channel

Exposición de Paul Graham – Europe:America

Paul Graham and Clément Chéroux in conversation

Paul Graham & Nicholas Dawidoff | The Whiteness of the Whale

What I learnt from Paul Graham

I like that Paul Graham embraced colour photography when most photographers who did documentary photography (especially in the UK) were still using Black and White film to make their images. I like that Paul embraced digital imaging, when its quality became sufficient for his work. Paul Graham works with the what he encounters is the world, and is an advocate for photography that engages with the world, he is not so keen on constructed images. I have meet Paul Graham once, at a press launch for an exhibition of his, at the Whitechapel Gallery and had him talk personally to me about how he found his way into making the work that became ‘Troubled Land.’ He explained to me that he had been making photojournalism type images of Ireland and that he was not happy with how they where working, he then showed me how one image pointed the way for him, when he was looking though his proof sheets. It was more a landscape type image one where the principal action or meaning is not so obvious.

This image was of a Army Patrol entering a junction, the men of the patrol are small within the frame and yet there are also other aspects of the Troubles, like posters placed up high so they could not be defaced easily by the either side, and small pieces of curb broken up so they could be used as ammunition to throw,  It was little things like that, which unless you know, did not make sense in a picture as you need context to understand what is happening within an image. This gets to the heart of one of the issues that photography has to confront, it is a great visual medium that does not explain what you are seeing. And to understand an image you sometimes need additional knowledge, that is not contained in the image. This social knowledge is easy to explain in words and words are not photography.

Links to articles on his work.

Paul Graham’s photography website.

This is Paul Grahams main website, for some reason he does not update it often, however it is a great place to explore his work.

Paul Graham – “Photography is Easy, Photography is Difficult” (2009)

This article is a good starting point on exploring what Paul Graham has to say about his own work.

Paul Graham – ‘The Unreasonable Apple’ (2010)

A article by Paul on the art of photography within the real world, discussing what photographers make and how some approaches to making work differ and how these are appreciated or perceived in the art world.

An Interview with Paul Graham by Richard Woodward exploring his Shimmer of Possibility project and other aspects of photography.

Books by Paul Graham

A1 – The Great North Road

Troubled Land

Beyond Caring

The Whiteness of the Whale

American Night

Shimmer of Possibility 

The Present

For Paul Graham the Photobook is an integral part of his photographic practice and something he is known for. The above books are the ones that I consider worth looking at as they are the ones that made his name, his more recent work is much more personal and also worth a look at.

Mother

Does Yellow Run Forever?

Verdigris / Ambergris is the most recent book by Paul Graham.

Normally I would put links to each book that I featured here however after looking on Amazon at the cost of these I have decided that because of the prices that Paul’s books now go for, I am not doing that. Paul’s books are now highly collectible.