Paul Graham (photographer)

English photographer

For other uses, see Paul Graham.

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Paul Graham

Graham in 2006

Born| 1956 (age 68–69)
Nationality| British
Education| Self-taught
Known for| Fine art photography
Website| paulgrahamarchive.com

Paul Graham (born 1956) is a British fine-art and documentary photographer.[1] He has published three survey monographs, along with 26 other dedicated books.

His work has been exhibited in the Italian Pavilion of the 49th Venice Biennale (2001), Switzerland's national Fotomuseum Winterthur, and a solo exhibition at New York City's Museum of Modern Art. He was included in Tate's Cruel and Tender survey exhibition of 20th century photography (2003), and a European mid career survey exhibition at Museum Folkwang, Essen, which toured to the Deichtorhallen, Germany, and Whitechapel Gallery, London. A 2015 survey of his American work, The Whiteness of the Whale, was exhibited at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Graham has won the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, the Hasselblad Award, the W. Eugene Smith Grant, received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and won the inaugural Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards prize for best photographic book of the past 15 years.

## Life and career

[edit]

Between 1981 and the end of 1982, Graham photographed people and places along the A1 road in Britain (which mainly parallels the Great North Road), from the Bank of England in the City of London, and travelling north.[2] His portrait of the nation was published in 1983 as A1: The Great North Road.[2]

His book Empty Heaven is devoted to Japan;[3] another, A Shimmer of Possibility, comprises 12 volumes examining everyday life in the USA.[4]

## Publications

[edit]

### Books of work by Graham

[edit]

* A1 - The Great North Road. Bristol: Grey, 1983. ISBN 978-0950870304.
* London: Mack, 2020. ISBN 978-1-912339-94-5. With an introduction by Rupert Martin, and afterwords by Graham for the 1983 and the 2020 editions.
* Beyond Caring. Bristol: Grey, 1985. ISBN 978-0950870311.
* Books on Books 9. New York: Errata, 2010. ISBN 9781935004165. With essays by David Chandler and Jeffrey Ladd. Facsimile edition.[5]
* London: Mack, 2021. ISBN 978-1-913620-12-7. With one additional photograph.[6]
* Troubled Land. Bristol: Grey, 1987. ISBN 978-0950870328.
* In Umbra Res. Bradford: National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television, 1991.
* New Europe. Fotomuseum Winterthur, 1992. ISBN 978-0948797378.
* Empty Heaven. Zurich: Scalo, 1995. ISBN 978-1881616535.
* Paul Graham. Contemporary Artists. Phaidon, London, 1996. With texts by Andrew Wilson, Carol Squiers, Kazuo Ishiguro, Haruki Murakami and Graham, and interviews between Graham and Gillian Wearing and Lewis Baltz. ISBN 9780714835501.
* End of an Age. Zurich: Scalo, 1999. ISBN 978-3908247173.
* Paintings. New York, NY: Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, 2000. ISBN 978-0967757339.
* American Night. Göttingen: SteidlMack, 2003. ISBN 978-3-88243-919-9.
* A Shimmer of Possibility. Göttingen: SteidlMack, 2007. ISBN 978-3865214836. 12 volume hardback.
* A Shimmer of Possibility. Göttingen: SteidlMack, 2009. Single volume softback.
* A Shimmer of Possibility. London: Mack, 2018. ISBN 978-1-910164-17-4. 12 volume hardback. New edition.
* Paul Graham. Göttingen: SteidlMack, 2009. ISBN 978-3865218582.
* Europe: America. Madrid: La Fábrica, 2011. ISBN 978-8415303343. Said to juxtapose two series, New Europe (1986–1992) and A Shimmer of Possibility (2004–2006). Accompanying an exhibition at the Fundación Botín in 2011/2012 curated by Vicente Todolí.
* Films. London: Mack, 2011. ISBN 978-1907946028.
* The Present. London: Mack, 2012. ISBN 978-1907946189.
* 1981 & 2011. Gothenburg, Sweden: Hasselblad Foundation; London: Mack, 2012. ISBN 978-1-907946-33-2. Produced in conjunction with his receiving the Hasselblad Award and an exhibition. Edited by Graham in collaboration with Dragana Vujanovic and Louise Wolthers from The Hasselblad Foundation and with a text by David Campany, "Noticing".[7] Said to unite A1 – The Great North Road (1981) and The Present (2011).
* Does Yellow Run Forever?. London: Mack, 2014. ISBN 978-1910164068.
* The Whitness of the Whale. London: Mack; San Francisco, Pier 24 Photography, 2015. ISBN 978-1-91016-432-7. Exhibition catalogue.[8] Includes American Night, A Shimmer of Possibility and The Present. With texts by David Chandler and Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa.
* Paris 11~15th November 2015. London: Mack, 2016. ISBN 978-1-910164-64-8.
* Mother. London: Mack, 2019. ISBN 978-1-912339-45-7.[9]
* Verdigris/Ambergris London: Mack, 2024. ISBN 978-1-915743-43-5. Two volumes in slip case.

### Books edited by Graham

[edit]

* But Still, it Turns. London: Mack, 2021. ISBN 978-1-912339-95-2. Includes work from Gregory Halpern's ZZYZX; Vanessa Winship's She Dances on Jackson, Curran Hatleberg's Lost Coast, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa's One Wall a Web, Richard Choi's What Remains, RaMell Ross' South County, Emanuele Bruti and Piergiorgio Casotti's collaborative Index G, and Kristine Potter's Manifest. With essays by Graham, Rebecca Bengal, RaMell Ross, and Ian Penman. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the International Center of Photography, New York, 2021.[10][11][12]

## Exhibitions

[edit]

### Solo and group exhibitions

[edit]

* Troubled Land; within The New British Document (also with Keith Arnatt, John Davies, Peter Fraser and Martin Parr, curated by Sally Eauclaire), Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago, May–June 1986.[13][14]
* Conflits en Irlande du Nord, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 1987.[citation needed]
* New Europe, Fotomuseum Winterthur, 1993.[15]
* Empty Heaven, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 1995.[citation needed]
* Hypermetropia, Tate Gallery, London, 1996.[16]
* End of an Age, Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh, 1998;[citation needed] Galerie Bob Van Orsouw, Zurich, 1998.[citation needed]
* Cruel and Tender, Tate, London, 2003. Group survey exhibition of 20th century photography.[17]
* American Night, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, 2003;[18] Power House, Memphis, TN, 2003;[citation needed] PS1, New York, 2003.[19]
* American Pictures, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, 2004.[citation needed]
* American Night, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 2006;[20] La Fábrica, Madrid, 2006.[citation needed]
* Click Double Click, The Documentary Factor, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2006;[21] Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, 2006[citation needed]
* A Shimmer of Possibility, La Fábrica, Madrid, 2008;[22] Museum of Modern Art, New York City, 2009.[23][24]
* Paul Graham. Photographs 1981–2006, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, 2009;[25] Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany, 2010;[26] Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2011.[2][27]
* The Whiteness of the Whale, Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco, August 2015 – February 2016;[28][29][30] and toured to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Bombas Gens in Valencia; and Rencontres d'Arles,[31] France.

### Exhibitions curated by Graham

[edit]

* But Still, it Turns, International Center of Photography, New York, 2021. Includes work by Gregory Halpern, Vanessa Winship, Curran Hatleberg, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, Richard Choi, RaMell Ross, Kristine Potter, and Emanuele Bruti and Piergiorgio Casotti.[11]

## Awards

[edit]

* 1983: Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts fellowship.[citation needed]
* 1988: W. Eugene Smith Grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.[32]
* 2009: Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.[33][34]
* 2009: Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society[35]
* 2010: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.[36]
* 2011: Best photographic book of the past 15 years for Shimmer of Possibility, awarded by Paris Photo as a precursor to the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, presented in The PhotoBook Review.[37]
* 2012: Hasselblad Award from the Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden.[1][38]

## Collections

[edit]

Graham's work is held in the following public collections:

* Arts Council Collection, UK[39]
* British Council, London[40]
* Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen[41]
* European Parliament, Brussels[citation needed]
* Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur[42]
* Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City[citation needed]
* Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg[43]
* Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City[44]
* Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León[45]
* Museum of Modern Art, New York City[46]
* National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, UK[citation needed]
* Saint Louis Art Museum, MO[47]
* Tate Gallery, London[48]
* Victoria & Albert Museum, London[citation needed]
* Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba[citation needed]
* Whitney Museum of Art, New York City[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b O'Hagan, Sean (8 March 2012). "Photographer Paul Graham wins 2012 Hasselblad award". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
2. ^ a b c Sooke, Alastair (26 April 2011). "Paul Graham retrospective, Whitechapel Gallery, review". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
3. ^ Bettina Lockemann, Das Fremde sehen: Der europäische Blick auf Japan in der künstlerischen Dokumentarfotografie (Transcript, 2008; ISBN 3-8376-1040-3), p.211 (here at Google Books).
4. ^ "a shimmer of possibility". Art.Base. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
5. ^ "Review: Beyond Caring by Paul Graham (Errata Edition)". Jörg Colberg. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
6. ^ "Photographing the harsh realities of the 1980s unemployment crisis". The Independent. 14 May 2021. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
7. ^ "Mack – Paul Graham – 1981 & 2011". Mack. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
8. ^ "Photographer's work shines light on 'invisibility of the poor'". SFChronicle.com. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
9. ^ O’Hagan, Sean (23 October 2019). "Paul Graham on Mother: 'I wanted to look clearly at her last years on Earth'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
10. ^ "But Still, It Turns Paul Graham (ed.)". Mack. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
11. ^ a b Lubow, Arthur (5 February 2021). "Photographing Life as It's Seen, Not Staged". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
12. ^ Bengal, Rebecca (11 February 2021). "And the Clock Waits So Patiently". The Paris Review. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
13. ^ Leaflet accompanying the exhibition, MoCP. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
14. ^ Abigail Foerstner, "Man's limestone building blocks: Landscape for the lens", Chicago Tribune, 16 May 1986. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
15. ^ "Paul Graham – New Europe - Ausstellungen - Entdecken - Fotomuseum Winterthur". www.fotomuseum.ch.[permanent dead link]
16. ^ "Art Now: Paul Graham: Hypermetropia – Exhibition at Tate Britain". Tate.
17. ^ "Paul Graham British, born 1956". Tate Modern. Accessed 2 March 2018.
18. ^ http://www.anthonyreynolds.com/documents/history/2003/Paul_Graham_2003.pdf [bare URL PDF]
19. ^ "MoMA PS1 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art.
20. ^ "GRAHAM, Paul". Médiathèque des Rencontres d'Arles. 10 April 2014.
21. ^ "Haus der Kunst - Detail". 23 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
22. ^ Fábrica, La (12 September 2016). "Paul Graham".
23. ^ "a shimmer of possibility. Photographs by Paul Graham". The Museum of Modern Art.
24. ^ Gefter, Philip (18 February 2016). "Paul Graham and Seizing the Everyday Moments". The New York Times.
25. ^ "art-in-tv.de Museum Folkwang präsentiert Paul Graham /". Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
26. ^ DEICHTORHALLEN HAMBURG (20 October 2011). "Deichtorhallen Hamburg: Paul Graham – Fotografien 1981–2006".
27. ^ "Exhibition - Paul Graham Photographs 1981-2006".
28. ^ Gefter, Phillip (21 February 2016). "Paul Graham and Seizing the Everyday Moments". The New York Times.
29. ^ Harrison Tedford, Matthew (19 August 2015). "Paul Graham's Photos Tell Expansive Story of Everyday America". KQED. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
30. ^ Haeusslein, Allie (28 October 2015). "Paul Graham on The Whiteness of the Whale at Pier 24 Photography". Aperture Foundation. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
31. ^ "Paul Graham: The Whiteness of the Whale". Rencontres d'Arles. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
32. ^ "1988: Recipients: Paul Graham". W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
33. ^ "Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2009". www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org.
34. ^ Johnston, Chris (25 November 2016). "Deutsche Börse's Photography Foundation 2017 prize shortlist announced". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
35. ^ "Honorary Fellowships (HonFRPS)". Royal Photographic Society. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
36. ^ "Paul Graham". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
37. ^ "Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards | Photography Blog". www.photographyblog.com. 19 July 2012.
38. ^ "Paul Graham: 2012 Hasselblad Award Winner 2012". Hasselblad Foundation. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
39. ^ "Graham, Paul | Arts Council Collection". www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk.
40. ^ "Paul Graham | Artists | Collection | British Council − Visual Arts". visualarts.britishcouncil.org.
41. ^ "Den Nationale Fotosamling - Det Kongelige Bibliotek". www5.kb.dk. 21 June 2023.
42. ^ Paul Graham Fotomuseum Winterthur. Accessed 2 March 2018.
43. ^ "Paul Graham - Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg". www.kunstmuseum-wolfsburg.de.
44. ^ "Collection". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum.
45. ^ "MUSAC". musac.es.
46. ^ "Paul Graham". The Museum of Modern Art.
47. ^ http://emuseum.slam.org:8080/emuseum/view/objects/asitem/7396/30/
48. ^ "Paul Graham". Tate.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Paul Graham biography and selected works at carlier | gebauer

* v
* t
* e

Laureates of the Hasselblad Award

1980s|

* Lennart Nilsson (1980)
* Ansel Adams (1981)
* Henri Cartier-Bresson (1982)
* Manuel Álvarez Bravo (1984)
* Irving Penn (1985)
* Ernst Haas (1986)
* Hiroshi Hamaya (1987)
* Édouard Boubat (1988)
* Sebastião Salgado (1989)

1990s|

* William Klein (1990)
* Richard Avedon (1991)
* Josef Koudelka (1992)
* Sune Jonsson (1993)
* Susan Meiselas (1994)
* Robert Häusser (1995)
* Robert Frank (1996)
* Christer Strömholm (1997)
* William Eggleston (1998)
* Cindy Sherman (1999)

2000s|

* Boris Mikhailov (2000)
* Hiroshi Sugimoto (2001)
* Jeff Wall (2002)
* Malick Sidibé (2003)
* Bernd and Hilla Becher (2004)
* Lee Friedlander (2005)
* David Goldblatt (2006)
* Nan Goldin (2007)
* Graciela Iturbide (2008)
* Robert Adams (2009)

2010s|

* Sophie Calle (2010)
* Walid Raad (2011)
* Paul Graham (2012)
* Joan Fontcuberta (2013)
* Miyako Ishiuchi (2014)
* Wolfgang Tillmans (2015)
* Stan Douglas (2016)
* Rineke Dijkstra (2017)
* Oscar Muñoz (2018)
* Daidō Moriyama (2019)

2020s|

* Alfredo Jaar (2020)
* Dayanita Singh (2022)
* Carrie Mae Weems (2023)
* Ingrid Pollard (2024)
* Sophie Ristelhueber (2025)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Italy
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Sweden
* Israel
* Catalonia

Artists|

* ULAN
* RKD Artists
* Museum of Modern Art
* Photographers' Identities

People|

* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC
* Yale LUX

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