President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media from the White House’s south lawn, before boarding Marine One, for a short trip to Andrews airforce base, and then on to Florida for campaign receptions
Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP
Influential music photographer Brian Griffin, who shot Depeche Mode’s first five iconic album covers, has died.
Clash Magazine reports that Griffins, who is widely acknowledged as one of the most prominent music photographers of his generation, passed away on Monday at the age of 75.
A Broken Frame. One of the coolest color photographs I’ve ever seen, captured by the great Brian Griffin. pic.twitter.com/twZtVinSNJ
— Khai (@ThamKhaiMeng) January 20, 2022
Griffins, who was born in Birmingham, U.K., was working an industrial job in a factory when he took up photography as a hobby and joined a local camera club.
Griffin’s hobby eventually became his profession when he moved to London in 1972 and took a job as a corporate photographer for Management Today magazine.
Griffin’s move to London also came around the same time as punk music was emerging and he started shooting bands for independent record label Stiff Records.
His photography experience shooting businessmen translated perfectly to the bands of the time who also dressed in suits and ties, such as The Jam and Elvis Costello and the Attractions.
Over the following years, Griffin went on to shoot iconic portraits and album covers for music artists such as Kate Bush, Siouxsie Sioux, R.E.M., Echo & The Bunnymen, Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Ringo Starr, Queen, and Peter Gabriel.
However, it was Griffin’s artistic partnership with Depeche Mode that defined his career and shot him to fame. Griffin took the photographs for the band’s first five albums.
Griffin’s cover image for Depeche Mode’s 1982 album A Broken Frame, which depicted a woman working and cutting grain in a field, was inspired by the socialist photography of Soviet Russia. The image would later be named Photograph Of The Decade by Time in 1990.
Griffin’s photograph for A Broken Frame also appeared on the cover of Life’s 1990 edition of “World’s Best Photographs 1980–1990” — and helped earn him the title of “photographer of the decade” by The Guardian in 1989.
In an interview with the British Journal of Photography in 2016, Griffin described how his pioneering visual style, which has been since been referred to as “Capitalist Realism,” was influenced his father’s death by lung cancer caused by years of working in an industry factory.
In his photographs, Griffin drew upon the backgrounds of his subjects — many of whom were workers and tradesmen — and learned about their poor working conditions. In his portraits, which sometimes resemble paintings, these subjects are elevated to a different, almost royal, status through their poses.
Griffin left photography behind in the 1990s to start a production company. However, he returned to the craft in the early 2000s to shoot a documentary for Sir Paul McCartney in 2004.
“He was a real innovator,” says Martin Parr, remembering fellow British photographer and longtime friend, Brian Griffin, who died at home in London last weekend, aged 75. “He really livened up the whole world of portraiture. They [his portraits] were so recognisably his. No one had ever seen anything like them. And not many photographers can say that.”
Griffin is best known for his iconic album covers, such as Depeche Mode’s A Broken Frame (1982) and Joe Jackson’s Look Sharp (1979), but he was much more than a rock photographer, injecting surreal narrative and noir lighting into commercial and editorial commissions, while pursuing his own projects. Griffin made no distinction between personal and assignment work; he put equal energy and ambition into both, always looking to create some playful visual disruption and make lasting, meaningful photographs.
He grew up in the Black Country in the English Midlands, attributing the sights and sounds of heavy industry as a major influence upon his imagery.
Brian Griffin, Liam, Steel Worker (2007). From the project Team Photo, for the opening of the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station © Brian Griffin Estate
Griffin gave up a job at British Steel at the end of the 1960s to study photography at Manchester Polytechnic, where he met Parr and Daniel Meadows. Afterwards, he moved to London to begin his storied freelance career, taking a portfolio of photographs of ballroom dancers to Roland Schenk at Management Today. The celebrated Swiss art director immediately saw his potential and encouraged the young photographer’s flights of imagination in the most unlikely setting of corporate portraiture.
His personal documentary work featured in landmark exhibitions in the 1970s, when Britain’s art establishment began taking photography seriously, including Hayward Gallery’s first major survey of contemporary practice, Three Perspectives (1979). The 1980s were, however, his undoubted peak. Indeed, the Guardian hailed him “the photographer of the decade”. Many of his most famous images of musicians (Kate Bush, Siouxsie Sioux and Elvis Costello, to name but a few) were made during this time, as was his most memorable large-scale commission, celebrating the completion of the Broadgate project in the City of London.
Brian Griffin, Rush Hour, London Bridge (1974). Commissioned by Roland Schenk for Management Today © Brian Griffin Estate
He was widely recognised for Work, published in 1988, one of many often self-published books he produced throughout his career. And following an exhibition at the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival in 1987, alongside the first showing of Nan Goldin’s Ballad of Sexual Dependency outside the US, dozens more shows followed, at home in the UK and across Europe.
Throughout the 1990s, Griffin worked primarily as a director of TV commercials and music videos, returning to photography in 2002 and picking up where he left off, shooting memorable campaigns for Reykjavik Energy, the completion of the HSI railway, the city of Marseilles, and a prized commission for the London Olympic Games in 2012. And among the dozens of books and shows he produced over the past 15 years, there were retrospectives in the UK, Iceland, Italy and Georgia. In 2021 he published what was to be the first half of his autobiography, Black Country Dada, designed by Cafeteria, with whom he was planning to do the second part later this year.
“This remarkable generation came out of Manchester Polytechnic, which included Brian and Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows,” says the collector and gallerist James Hyman, who founded the Centre for British Photography. “And the three of them have been absolutely fundamental, in their different ways, in the development of British photography over a 50 year period. He’s got a central place in that history, and he was also a very individual voice.”
Celebrated British photographer Brian Griffin has died at the age of 75, his business partner has confirmed.
Vaughn George said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that I announce that my dear friend and business partner Brian Griffin passed away peacefully in his sleep. I am heartbroken but I will cherish every conversation, the time we spent together and all the wonderful experiences. Rest peacefully my friend.”
Griffin is considered to be a legend of the industry, having worked with some of the biggest names in music. His best-known work includes album covers such as Depeche Mode’s ‘A Broken Frame’, as well as photographing other bands such as The Clash, Echo & The Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The photographer also notably worked on a documentary with Sir Paul McCartney. He also worked with celebrities such as Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Tributes have poured in for Griffin from the industry. Publishing house Nine eight Books, who used Griffin’s image for one of their books, said: “We are very sorry to hear about the passing of the remarkable photographer Brian Griffin. He kindly allowed us to use his stunning shot of Siouxsie for Cathi Unsworth’s ‘Season of the Witch’. It was the only picture we ever considered. A true visionary. Rest in Peace Brian.”
Sharjah: The 8th edition of Xposure International Photography Festival will take place from February 28 to March 5, 2024, announced the Sharjah Government Media Bureau. The region’s largest festival of its kind that annually brings together both champions and admirers of the visual arts across mediums of photography and film will be hosting its biggest iteration yet in Expo Centre Sharjah.
A vibrant hub of leading photographers, filmmakers, visual artists, and visitors, the 7-day festival will feature award-winning exhibitions, insightful debates and inspiring dialogues, film screenings, a trade exhibition, book signings, and interactive activities for professionals, amateurs and hobbyists alike. Xposure focuses on developing photography skills through specialised workshops and portfolio reviews, and organises one of the most prestigious awards to honour leading industry talents.
Xposure 2024 to be an even bigger celebration of photography, films and more
HE Tariq Saeed Allay, Director General of SGMB, said: “The Xposure International Photography Festival continues on its mission to boost Sharjah’s and the UAE’s global reputation for being a frontrunning incubator of talent and excellence in varied disciplines of visual arts. The festival also reinforces our emirate’s reputation as a top destination for global talent and a leading platform of cultural and artistic exchange”.
“Xposure will offer visitors a window into unique artistic perspectives, cultures, circumstances and opinions that have shaped the distinct narratives of world renowned image makers who will be joining us this year. The festival’s agenda reflects our strategic approach to inspire people, make them better observers of our world and its realities, and enrich their cultural and educational experiences. By bringing emerging talents together with global professionals on one platform, we seek to strengthen the future of visual storytelling through the exchange of ideas, perspectives and innovation,” he stressed.
The organisers are gearing up to announce big industry names, award-winning exhibitions and other attractions that will come together to make Xposure 2024 the biggest edition yet.
25,000 entries from 190 countries for Xposure 2024
The Xposure International Photography Festival, boasting an impressive prize pool of $60,000 dollars, has witnessed exceptional participation this year, receiving over 25,000 entries from 190 countries including China, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia,Germany, Italy, Brazil, Egypt, USA, United Kingdom, and more across its 13 categories. Highest submissions were received by the ‘Street Photography’ category with 4,868 entries, followed by ‘Portraiture’ with 4,847. The ‘Nature & Landscape’ category attracted 4,583 entries, while the ‘Mobile Photography’ category received 2,444 applications.
The ‘Drone Photography’ category received 2,663 submissions, while ‘Architectural Photography’ had 2,233. The ‘Photojournalism’ category drew 1,835 entries, and ‘Night Photography’ received 1,267 entries. The newly introduced ‘See Sharjah’ category, which includes subcategories such as Cultural Heritage, Urban Landscapes, People and Daily Life, and Nature, received 660 submissions.
Film Awards
Xposure also features film awards in four sub-categories, including ‘Short Film’, ‘Best Documentary’, ‘Best Cinematic Arts’, and ‘Best Animated and Moving Image’. These categories have collectively received 567 entries from around the world this year.
The overall winner is awarded $6,000 dollars. Each first-place winner in the individual categories receives a $3,000 dollar prize, while second-place winners in each of the 15 categories receive $1,500 dollars.
Junior Photography Awards
The Xposure Awards will have a special category named ‘Junior Photography’ dedicated for young photographers under the age of 18. This year, the category has attracted 192 entries. Targeting young talents in the UAE, the initiative provides an emerging generation of visual storytellers with access to a leading industry platform, where they can both learn and showcase their work.
Independent & Freelance Photojournalist Award
The festival also honours photo journalists with an Independent & Freelance Photojournalist Award – and a prize-pool of over $15,000 dollars is to be contested through three categories. This coveted award has received 255 submissions from over 61 countries. The award is further divided into the categories of ‘Spot News’, ‘Environment’ and ‘Solutions’. The award is designed to acknowledge the grit and passion of photographers who defy danger and precarious situations to showcase the truth to the world, build public awareness and bring issues of global importance to the limelight.
To know more about the festival’s leading guests, panel discussions, exhibitions, workshops, and other events, visit https://xposure.net/ to register.
-Ends-
About the “Xposure” International Photography Festival:
The “Xposure” International Photography Festival is one of the most prominent international festivals specialising in celebrating and showcasing the best creative works in the fields of photography and film. It provides a comprehensive platform for learning, offering workshops, panel discussions, and exhibitions that annually attract photographers, filmmakers, and enthusiasts from around the world. The festival is a destination for professionals in the imaging industry and artists, offering opportunities for networking, professional growth, and keeping up with the latest trends and technologies in the visual arts.
This year, the festival continues its journey after its previous edition witnessed the attendance and participation of 20,000 visitors. It hosted 110 top photographers, imaging industry experts, and thought leaders, presenting 41 inspiring lectures, 53 workshops, 37 panel discussions and talks, and live demonstrative shows. It revealed the latest innovations from 41 specialised photography and image processing brands participating in the trade exhibition during the festival.
In the early 1990s, a Mexican-American dance craze swept through Los Angeles and the American south-west. It was called quebradita (meaning ‘little break’) in reference to the flips and backbends that characterised this acrobatic style. While rooted in the vaquero [cowboy] tradition of northern Mexico, quebradita was a new combination of Mexican, Anglo and African-American influences accompanied by catchy tecnobanda music in rodeo grounds, clubs, parks and warehouses throughout the border region.
The dance waned in popularity at the turn of the millennium, before reemerging in the 2010s in a more toned-down form. Recently, however, it’s been revived and remixed by a new generation of teens as one of many vaquero dance crazes exploding in popularity on TikTok and Instagram. In LA, much of the scene centres around the Pico Rivera Sports Arena in the southeast of the city, where young people dance to live bands after rodeo events. Over the past few months, British photographer James Pearson-Howes has worked to capture the fast turns, swinging hips, and electric atmosphere of the dances in his ongoing photo series, Taller the Hat, Closer to Heaven.
“I see my work as a way to understand people, to see what makes us different but also what binds us together,” he tells Dazed. Intrigued by the social media-fuelled dance trends of the past five years, he stumbled across these vaquero styles on TikTok, and travelled to LA in September 2023 to document “the vibrance and energy” of the youth culture there. Shooting on film, he used shutter drag to keep pace with the action and preserve the details, down to the softness of the dancers’ hair as they spun around. He recalls, “I shot quite tight – it’s always about the people and capturing their faces and their style.”
A fashion and documentary photographer, Pearson-Howes has always had an eye for subcultures, covering everything from the nascent grime scene in London in the 2000s, to the “strange and surreal” folkloric rituals still practised in obscure corners of the UK today. Having grown up going to raves in the 90s, community building around dance and fashion struck a chord with the photographer and he was immediately enchanted when he encountered the vaquero dance scene in LA. He tells Dazed, “Here, you have this classic Western look – the cowboy hat, the rodeo shirt tucked into belted wrangler jeans, the cowboy boots – but mix that with tramlines shaved into the hair, or guys with New Era caps on. It’s this mash-up of traditional and contemporary fashion that makes it so unique.”
Sydney Hutchinson, an author and academic from Tucson, Arizona, who researched the trend in the 90s affirmed the social and cultural importance of the dancers’ distinct style. “Quebradita appealed to thousands of Mexican-American youth who were looking for a way to be vocal and proud about their roots, especially with all the anti-immigrant legislation going on at the time,” she tells Dazed. “These kids mixed folklórico moves with steps from hip-hop, swing, merengue, and country, and paired traditional ranchero aesthetics with sequins and customised tees. It was loud and bright and flashy, and enabled these young dancers to gain visibility and claim space.”
22-year-old Angel Martinez from San Jacinto, California, is one of the dancers featured in Pearson-Howes’ project. Martinez began teaching himself to dance on TikTok and Instagram in late 2022 and hasn’t stopped. “I’m Hispanic and dancing is in our blood,” he says. “We dance for fun, mixing all the styles, adding more spins, and teaching each other new moves.” After a dance has ended at Pico Rivera Sports Arena, his friends head to a fast-food joint called Raising Cane’s and carry on until dawn. “Dancing is like therapy for me – it relaxes my mind and distracts me from the things I’m stressing about.”
Pearson-Howes is heading back to LA this year to shoot a short film about the community and the individuals he met, digging deeper into “what makes them dance”. Meanwhile, Sydney Hutchinson sees parallels between the political and sociocultural functions of the quebradita scene in the early 90s, and the dance crazes of today. “It seems to be one of those trends that comes in cycles,” she says. “As the first trend that brought together Mexican-American kids with those who had newly migrated from Mexico, quebradita had this political meaning behind it, which wasn’t so obvious to outside observers. Right now, as we face down the prospect of another Trump presidency, it makes sense that people are connecting with it, and finding positive ways to assert their identity.”
Follow James Pearson–Howes here for updates on Taller the Gat, Closer to Heaven.
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Brian Griffin, the man who created some of the most memorable album covers of the 1980s for artists such as Depeche Mode and Echo & The Bunnymen, has died aged 75.
Griffin, who had been elected “ photographer of the decade ” by The Guardian in 1989, died in his sleep, as his associate Vaughn George confirmed: “ It is with a heavy heart that I announce that my dear friend and business associate Brian Griffin passed away peacefully in his sleep. I am heartbroken, but I will cherish every conversation, the time we spent together, and all the wonderful experiences we had. Rest in peace my friend. »
Brian Griffin began working as a corporate photographer in the 1970s, before his work with Stiff Records allowed him to establish himself in the music business. Throughout the 1980s, he created many of the decade’s defining album covers, including A Broken Frame by Depeche Mode, a photo of a woman mowing a field, inspired by the socialist photography of Soviet Russia.
This photo was named “ Photography of the decade ” by Time in 1990.
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that my dear friend and business partner Brian Griffin passed away peacefully in his sleep. I am heartbroken but I will cherish every conversation, the time we spent together and all the wonderful experiences. Rest peacefully my friend. pic.twitter.com/YW5dYgsgR5
— Vaughn George (Vaughty) (@VaughnGeorgeV) January 30, 2024
RIP Brian Griffin.
Brian’s photographic and creative genius was responsible for some of Depeche Mode’s (and many other artists) most iconic album covers & photoshoots.
Brian you will be missed 🙏#RIPBrianGriffin #BrianGriffin #Depeche Mode pic.twitter.com/nVsUazSiGH
— Depeche Mode Bong (@depechemodebong) January 30, 2024
He also created iconic portraits of The Jam and Elvis Costello, as well as album covers for Joe Jackson and Siouxsie & The Banshees.
He left photography in the 1990s to set up a production company, but returned in the early 2000s when he led a campaign to have his home city of Birmingham named the European Capital of Culture. He also directed a documentary for Paul McCartney in 2004.
Paying tribute to him, writer Bill Brewster said: “ I am sorry to hear of the passing of Brian Griffin. When I interviewed my fellow photographer Peter Ashworth, he told me he was an inspiration: he’s a stunning photographer. »
