Richard Billingham- "Landscapes 2001-2003"





BILLINGHAM 2001, Fence.







BILLINGHAM 2002, Hedgerow





BILLINGHAM 2002, Gates.



BILLINGHAM 2003, Cows in the Rain. 



"It is not a matter of knowing a place but of knowing and understanding the structure of diminishing perspective and detail. Billingham was forcing himself to take a position, to find a real fixed place." Sacha Craddock, december 2007. Taken from Craddock's essay in Billingham's book "Landscapes, 2001-2003".

 Billingham is an English photographer (born in Birmingham in 1970), who originally studied Painting at Bourneville College of Art and The University of Sunderland. The images above are taken from his book "Landscapes 2001-2003" and have provided much inspiration for my own work this term. What attracted me to Billingham's landscape work was the ambiguity of it. Unlike my own previous works, they are very indirect, they leave much to the imagination when it comes to how the viewer reads the images. For example, I for instance know that these are of places that Billingham perhaps does not know particularly well. However, for me they portray something quite close to the photographer's heart, they show places full of meaning to him (or maybe to me through representation). That is something I would like to take forward when producing my own work. I am particularly drawn to the bottom image (Cows in the Rain) taken by Billingham in 2003. The Natural lighting in this image is beautiful and really grabs the attention of the viewer. Billingham would have taken this image in "the golden hour"- that is as the sun is rising or as it sets. I love the effect that shooting at this time has on the image, giving it a golden mask and casting shadow across the land. I would quite like to try this when I next go out with my camera, it will be interesting to see what results I get and how a controlled use of lighting would change the effects of my photographs.

I think the reason why I am so drawn to Billingham's Landscape work is because they remind me of places close to my heart; for me they form a representation of a place I have known for a very long time, despite the fact I have never been to the place photographed here. This work has made me think much more about what it is that I want to photograph in order to get my point across. Perhaps it is no longer about providing a clear cut view of the destruction I am seeing within the area in which I live, but maybe it is more about looking back on how I remember this place, and cherishing these memories instead of worrying about how this place has and will change.