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... trophic and disorienting; still, one might notice that Billingham chose to photograph the old man and then publish the photograph, rather than immediately picking him up and cleaning him off (Lewis). Billingham's behavior can be regarded as one of callousness and distance, or perhaps one of simple routine. As stated by Gordon Burn, every night [Billingham] came in from college and Ray would be lying passed-out on the bed; checking his breathing was always the first thing he did. So taking pictures was also a way of preserving him a bit at the start. Seeing him on his back in the toilet was -- is -- an accepted part of family life (Burn).
Accordingly, his family regards poverty as an accepted part of family life, and as a result, do not fully comprehend the significance of Billingham's photos; "My Mum will be looking at the book and if she hasn't got full concentration on it she will say, 'Pass me a fag, Ray. ' They relate to the work but I don't think they recognize the media interest in it, or the importance. I don't think that they think anything of it, really. They are not shocked by it, or anything. We " re used to living in poverty (ArtSeenSOHO). " Yet there is an unmistakable affection for his subjects, despite such an apparent emotional distance: as noted by Richard Cork, the judge of the Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize (which was awarded to Billingham in 1997), [Billingham's] shocking frankness is seasoned with love as well. Such a dichotomy is inherent in the medium of photography itself, a notion inseparable from Billingham's work, and acutely explicated by Lewis: photography is automatically exploitative of its subjects, yet it can be agreed that we take pictures of the things we adore. Thus, Billingham shows his love for his family simply by exploiting them as subjects.
Conversely, just as Billingham seems distant despite his love for his family, so does his family seem distant towards him. In only a few of his photographs do his subjects even seem to be aware of his presence, which perhaps can be considered reflective of a family dynamic wherein the members are continually off-guard by nature of their relation... However, considering the size of the rooms and the ruthless flash of Billingham's camera, this oblivion remains a notable quality. Additionally, a considerable number of the prints are spontaneous shots (including one of Jason pegging Ray in the head with a tennis ball, and another of Ray throwing one of the cats across the living room) which would lead one to believe that Billingham simply sat in his living room and waited, camera in hand, for something to happen, and while it says something about his parents oblivion that they act like hes not there, it says something even stronger about his own self-imposed emotional distance (Lewis).
Ive always been fond of conflict in art, and it is this underlying constant of contradiction in Richard Billingham's work that I find so appealing; primarily the limbo between distance and closeness, which I believe is what makes Billingham's work so unique. While artists like Nan Goldin and Walker Evans have executed similar intimate portraits of rather eccentric individuals (and I must confess I am not terribly familiar with the entire breadth of either artists work, and whatever judgments I make regarding must be considered accordingly) it seems that their photographs lack the spontaneity and honesty that I find in Billingham's photographs. I suspect this may be due to the form of the photograph itself, rather than the content: Goldins photographs are consistently good photography... the classical lighting and composition makes them appear staged, though her work has been praised for its realism (Although for me, the content does play a part... perhaps I am more conservative than others, but I dont often find myself casually in a room with a masturbating friend). One photograph which I believe to be an effective representation of Billingham's style is a print of Liz sitting on the living room sofa, working on a jigsaw puzzle.
This image, though photographed in Billingham's previously mentioned disregard of professional techniques, remains a testimony to Billingham's skillful eye. The composition is sophisticated, with a concentration on color, pattern and texture. The chaos of colors of Liz's floral-printed moo moo follows down to the colorful tattoos on her forearms, and further to the confetti of puzzles pieces laying in her lap and sprawled out upon the table. This disorder seems to reflect the chaos of life in the Billingham household; its liveliness, its violence, its humor, its disarray -- its messiness.
The vibrant colors inspire a sort of radiance and happiness, which charmingly contrast against the considerably darker image of an obese woman, almost pathetically killing time by laboring over those tiny colored cardboard shapes. This contrast, between the mirthful and depressing, is also present in Billingham's print of the dog licking crumbs off the linoleum -- it is a comical image; the absurd crop, Liz's mangy fluffy white slippers, the wide-eyed dog seemingly attempting to squeeze his nose under the refrigerator to lap up whatever assortment of dirt and hardened morsels lie there -- and this comedy inspires a fondness for the subjects in the viewer, as is the nature of comedic characters and their relationship with the audience. Yet the situation, the fact that the dog has resorted to licking crumbs off the floor, is really quite pitiable, and in being pitiable, becomes exploitative. As stated by Lewis, What makes some photographs great is precisely the balance they strike between devouring their subject and adoring it, and the surprise they inspire at the idea that whatever theyre picturing can bear the weight of just that contradiction (Lewis).
Such is undoubtedly the case in Rays a Laugh. As described by Burn, It is a brilliant essay on the psychopathology of family life which is brave enough to suggest that destitution -- more: squalor and degradation -- can produce images that are not only not ugly, but actually galvanizing and beautiful.
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Research essay sample on Critical Analysis Of Richard Billingham Photography
