As you may have gathered from my posts a couple of weeks ago, i do adore the photography of Chris Killip enormously. Killip really should be a far bigger figure in UK photography but he isn't and its difficult to work out why. Maybe, as the photographer himself states in the video, the photography from the north east of England during the 1980's has too much baggage when viewed in Britain.
On the other hand Chris Killip has never been the showman that Martin Parr has been. I tend to think of these two photographers, both of whom were in the limelight when i took up photography in the late 1980's as the opposing ends of the documentary photography spectrum. I've always liked Chris Killips's warmth towards his subject matter opposed to Martin Parr's cold and critical eye.
Whatever the outcome of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize this year, it's just great to see this important work from the north east being shown and discussed. Killip's work had political overtones when it was first shown and its relevance to current UK economic and political events still makes it essential viewing.
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