Richard Billingham - Ray's a Laugh - 2000
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Ray's a Laugh by Richard Billingham, a 112-page softback photobook in English (original language) published by Scalo in 2000 as a reprint, in fair condition with light shelf wear and a slight front-cover crease.
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Description from the seller
Richard Billingham’s Ray’s a Laugh is one of the most influential and uncompromising photobooks in contemporary British photography. Originally published by Scalo in 1996, the book offers an intimate, unfiltered portrait of Billingham’s family life in the working-class surroundings of Birmingham, transforming scenes of domestic disorder, vulnerability and everyday existence into an extraordinary photographic narrative.
At the centre of the series are Billingham’s father, Ray, an alcoholic who spends much of his time drinking at home, and his mother, Liz, whose imposing presence, tattoos and colourful clothing contrast with the often chaotic interiors of their apartment. Photographed with inexpensive cameras and colour film, these images possess a raw, spontaneous quality that rejects conventional ideas of photographic beauty. Their saturated colours, harsh flash and seemingly accidental compositions create a visual language that is both unsettling and deeply personal.
What distinguishes Ray’s a Laugh from traditional documentary photography is Billingham’s position within the world he photographs. Rather than observing his subjects from a distance, he records the intimate reality of his own family, revealing moments of affection, humour, frustration and tenderness alongside poverty and domestic instability. The resulting photographs resist easy judgement, allowing the complexity of family relationships to emerge without sentimentality or moral commentary.
This second edition, published by Scalo, preserves the remarkable intensity of a book that has become a landmark in the history of British photography and an essential reference for collectors of rare and influential photobooks. Its significance extends beyond the documentary tradition, anticipating the deeply autobiographical approaches that would become increasingly prominent in contemporary photography.
Condition: Light shelf wear, a slight crease on the front cover, and some staining on the white pages of the book. Please refer to the photographs for a more accurate assessment of its condition.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Richard Billingham’s Ray’s a Laugh is one of the most influential and uncompromising photobooks in contemporary British photography. Originally published by Scalo in 1996, the book offers an intimate, unfiltered portrait of Billingham’s family life in the working-class surroundings of Birmingham, transforming scenes of domestic disorder, vulnerability and everyday existence into an extraordinary photographic narrative.
At the centre of the series are Billingham’s father, Ray, an alcoholic who spends much of his time drinking at home, and his mother, Liz, whose imposing presence, tattoos and colourful clothing contrast with the often chaotic interiors of their apartment. Photographed with inexpensive cameras and colour film, these images possess a raw, spontaneous quality that rejects conventional ideas of photographic beauty. Their saturated colours, harsh flash and seemingly accidental compositions create a visual language that is both unsettling and deeply personal.
What distinguishes Ray’s a Laugh from traditional documentary photography is Billingham’s position within the world he photographs. Rather than observing his subjects from a distance, he records the intimate reality of his own family, revealing moments of affection, humour, frustration and tenderness alongside poverty and domestic instability. The resulting photographs resist easy judgement, allowing the complexity of family relationships to emerge without sentimentality or moral commentary.
This second edition, published by Scalo, preserves the remarkable intensity of a book that has become a landmark in the history of British photography and an essential reference for collectors of rare and influential photobooks. Its significance extends beyond the documentary tradition, anticipating the deeply autobiographical approaches that would become increasingly prominent in contemporary photography.
Condition: Light shelf wear, a slight crease on the front cover, and some staining on the white pages of the book. Please refer to the photographs for a more accurate assessment of its condition.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Details
Number of books
1
Subject
Photography
Book title
Ray's a Laugh
Author/ Illustrator
Richard Billingham
Condition
Fair
Publication year oldest item
2000
Height
28 cm
Edition
Reprint
Width
21 cm
Language
English
Original language
Yes
Publisher
Scalo
Binding/ Material
Softback
Number of pages
112
