Richard Billingham - Richard Billingham - 2001

Richard Billingham

Richard Billingham
Ikon Gallery/2001/English/188*273*13

“Richard Billingham,” a photo book by British photographer Richard Billingham. Born in 1970, Billingham is known for *Ray's a Laugh*, which captures the daily life of his family: his father Ray, an unemployed alcoholic who drowned his sorrows in drink; his mother Liz, a chain smoker who didn’t touch alcohol; and his younger brother Jason, who had his own share of issues. In 2018, the story of this family was adapted into a film, *Ray & Liz*, which marked Billingham’s feature directorial debut. This book is the catalog from an exhibition held in 2000 at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, where Billingham was born. In addition to the family photographs included in *Ray’s a Laugh*, it features images shot and produced in the 1990s, including early black-and-white photographs of Ray, color photographs of urban landscapes, and video works. While the family photographs are certainly noteworthy, the seemingly casual landscape shots also display a unique skill; in contrast to the focus on the family’s strong personalities, these unremarkable scenes are captured with a lyrical touch.