Richard Billingham

It was the day of Hand In FGC4! I hadn't slept, well maybe for an hour or so, and Andy told us post hand in that we should go to a lecture that was this afternoon. I groaned in that 'I know I'm going to go but when will I get time to shut my eyes kind of way'. I went to see him talk: Richard Billingham. I had always thought he was a good photographer with interesting subject matter. Turns out he's a painter at heart and just takes snaps of his folks! It's composition and almost a lack of care for his work that makes it o good. most of his best, earlier work he has lost the negatives for and just has paint splattered prints to show, this would be a real shame in most cases but it adds so much to his work it tells a real story of a boy trying to follow a path that turned out to not be right for him. Billingham's paintings were never appreciated by his tutors or peers and he became accidentally pushed into photography which he eventually accepted. Something that he said really hit home to me, and made me feel warm inside. Billingham was rejected from 16 universities, most importantly Falmouth and Norwich as I was also rejected from both of these. Rejection is hard but it seems like we've both dealt with it well.
Favourite Quote: 'the more mistakes the better really.'