‘Byker, Tyneside, 1976’ by Chris Killip
The elderly man sharing a lift with us had tears in his eyes as we left behind a 2022 retrospective exhibition of Chris Killip’s work.
He seemed to have been visibly moved by the astonishing photography exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery in London. It was surely not an uncommon reaction. Two years after the death of Killip in 2020, one of the UK’s most influential photographers, this retrospective was a stark reminder of the economic and social realities faced by marginalised communities during the 1970s and 1980s. Killip’s images still resonate today against the backdrop of a divided Britain.
‘Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo, Ireland, 1993-2005’ by Chris Killip
Now, a book edited by internationally recognised curator and author Mark Holborn offers a fresh perspective on Killip’s work in North East England and Ireland. Holborn, given unfettered access to Killip’s complete archive, has selected 224 images for the book, titled simply North. Together, the pictures offer a fresh look at what the photographer once called “another country”, one far from London.
“Looking through the complete archive of Chris Killip’s work recently, I have seen many pictures for the first time,” Holborn writes in a forward to North. “Those that I already know seem more deeply etched in my memory than ever. They have become defining emblems of despair coupled with lyricism and tenderness from late in the last century.”
‘Seacoal Beach, Lynemouth, Northumberland, 1983’ by Chris Killip
Holborn continues: “There is a tension running throughout. Killip’s visual language does not arise with the photojournalistic convention of the Leica or 35mm view. His work is larger in the frame, and inherently more slowly measured and considered. A pictorial grace follows.
“The virtuoso compositions give you defined planes of foreground, mid-ground and background, all in perfect focus. At times, especially in some of those most memorable pictures, the elegance is so pronounced it almost contradicts the starkness of the reality he is describing.”
Here we share a selection of images from North before its publication in September.
‘Wallsend, Tyneside, 1976’ by Chris Killip
‘Bus shelter, North Shields, Tyneside, 1975’ by Chris Killip