FEATURE LIST
about yourselftoo highly. 'l‘hey here‘s the Prime Minister and I‘ve ' ofmy' father' says Griffin. 2 don‘t like you to accrue fame or to be got an opportunity to photograph His father was killed by industrial i successful.’ It‘s one of the reasons he hcrf pollution and. after his death. 3 findshimSCllW'CfF£1“th toacountry His workmanlike attitude is j Griffin took a seriesof portraits. ' like Spain. "I‘hey don‘t give a damn perhaps the key to Griffin's most (also on view in the exhibiton) of so long as the pictures are inspired photography, Born in the 3 workers on a building site. Each is a Brian Griffin. one of the most llllcrs‘SIlnP‘ Black Country. near Birmingham. ' close-up portrait. shown with the successful. influential and highly Griffin‘s arrogance however is he was ‘dragged' out of school by his figure lying flat on his back. his eyes paid photographers in Britain. is an 3 tinged with a little self-irony. ‘l've parents and asked to go out to work closed. A tool. for example a saw. unexpected mixture of arrogance . read too much Dali‘ he says by way to help bring money into the family : blade uppermost. rests between nose and modesty. It is the arrogance of an apology. ‘I like his egotism.‘ home. He became a trainee ' and chin. like the sword on the a which is apparent firsl. However egotistical he is about his i draughtsman with first one firm and figure of a stone knight. lying in state ‘Every single one of these pictures‘ . work. — and all his work he suggests ' then another until finally. when he ’ in a cathedral. he says as soon as we sit down in the is about himself— he doesn‘t appear ; was 21 and was allowed to make up Like all his pictures. it grabs the midst ofhis current exhibition at the to be concerned by the split between ; his own mind. he opted guiltin for attention immediately but contains Stills Gallery ‘is a different idea. It's ‘artistie' and commercial ' art school. It Was he admits. ‘a within it other levels of meaning or I quite easy to get a flow going in an photography. His style and the areas j completely crazy thing to do‘ and significance. ‘1 know how to make an , exhibition. but every picture here is in which he works are very diverse. also perhaps. the most extreme form image powerful superficially. and l different. Photography" he adds. ‘is he is very prolific and he shows no - ofself-assertion. try to play that against what's inside very egotistical. I can make people snobbery about what projects he g ‘Art school was completely alien to it. The power of photography has i feel comfortable or sad or relaxed. 1 works on. 'l‘m not going to say I ' a terraced house society in the 1960s. always been to hit the onlooker ' have a lot of power.’ don’t want to touch that or I'm too i There were no professional quickly. and with a lot of It all sounds a little strange. It's not good for that. [just go to work.‘ possibilites. no monetary future. It photographs it finishes there. lfyou I that you don’t believe him. His Moreover. he is under no illusions was very self-indulgent.‘ More can get the basic aesthetics. the i portraits. especially those of about his role. ‘You have to be part importantly still. there was a great dynamic. and another few layers , managers or executives display a ofthe furniture in a way. you have to onuson him tosucceed. after that. then you start to use the ' rare ability to isolate what is often adapt or you don’t get the Echoes from his childhood are still power of the medium and start to say i the essential irony of their position. photograph. I think about everyone f very apparent in his photographs. something.‘ i But. as he himself says. in Britain we the same. The Prime Minister for The picture chosen to advertise the ; i usually expect something a little example was ‘a very nice person to Stills exhibiton. which is itself 8mm (irffll’1'~*‘ WWA’ 13‘1115'11715 more self-effacing. be with'. ‘I didn't think about her | entitled ‘Work‘. shows a solitary 2 GUI/")3 105His/15'1’1’6110111/1758/)!- l ‘lt's very hard to be appreciated in sinking the Belgrano when l was ; figure ofa working man. the Inf“ 5571/40 TWAIN". Hum—6W". I Britain. People don‘t like you talking photographing her. [ just thought. l labourer as hero. ‘I {es the epitome l‘ir‘T- J
‘ iflTh—eiiist l‘) — 25 August 1988 9