Our book for Brian Griffin — Black Country Dada — has launched.
Brian Griffin is responsible for some of the most iconic images of the 1970s and ‘80s and this book tells the stories behind those images. It takes him from his college years to running a successful studio photographing the great and the good from show business to big business.
At just over a year in the making, in the strangest of circumstances, this book is an extraordinary piece of work by any measure. It is a comprehensive, first-hand recollection of what it was like to build a unique career over two intense decades by one of the world’s leading photographers.
Brian’s determination to make this book succeed was apparent from the start. He was chomping at the bit while Rhys and Julia assembled the Kickstarter campaign assets and once we were off there was no stopping his promotional energies. When we hit the target and secured the funding, the focus changed to really honing the content and structure of the book.
As we got to know Brian we developed our Black Country Dada visual language together. It’s been quite a collaboration with the book finding its form and taking shape intuitively and instinctively. The long winter months were made brighter with energetic Zoom calls, flashes of inspiration and moments of genuine emotion. Barely a day went by without being in contact and the book went from being Brian’s manuscript to ‘Our’ book. We stuck to the story but as Brian will attest, we questioned and pushed and shaped and polished until it felt enough.
On April Fool’s Day morning, just as the third lockdown was lifting, they finally arrived. A box of five books direct from the printers. White, black and red, crisp corners and a hard gloss cover. I opened a copy and knew we could be proud of what we had made together.
The sense of pride and relief that this 220 page autobiographical photo book got made at all is hard to describe. And in spite of the challenges of working remotely and through a pandemic, it’s been a generous, moving and life affirming experience.
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Watch this space for further news on where Brian’s work will be exhibited and for our full project story.
The 220 page hard backed limited edition of 750 is available to buy the following ways:
Directly from Brian
briangriffin.co.uk
From MMX Gallery in London
mmxgallery.com/store
Until 2 May at Brian’s pop-up exhibition at by Residency, Islington Square, London.
https://byresidency.com
byresidency.com
Virtual Tour
Check out the virtual exhibition of Black Country Dada as part of
FORMAT International Photography Festival 2021
formatfestival.com
