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The Black Kingdom by Brian Griffin |
"First, a confession: I love Brian Griffin. I love the man, I love his work… and I love this book.
The Black Kingdom is an autobiographical work tracing Brian’s childhood in the Black Country, then at the core of industrial Britain. Archive family photos (those by his mother Edith are particularly good) weave between relevant examples of his celebrated corporate work and some extraordinary tableaux vivants, recalling Carravagio or Stanley Spencer, in which Brian often uses friends (or even himself) as models. Beautifully designed by Stuart Smith, Griffin’s intimate and often humorous text is bravely set in an unusually large font, allowing the pride he clearly feels for his homeland to shine throughout the whole book.
Brian Griffin is often referred to as ‘one of the most significant photographers of his generation’, but I’d go further and suggest he’s still making work as fresh and ambitious as anyone out there today." -- Mark Power
Mark Power is a photographer and lecturer from the UK and a member of Magnum Photos. His latest book, MASS, was published earlier this year.
www.markpower.co.uk