RICHARD BILLINGTON
This is a write up I found of Richard which I felt summed him well also written by him.
The Nerd Within
Hellow (or perhaps Hello) and welcome to this page about me :)
First I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Richard Billington and I will be 95 in 2078. So now I have taken care of that let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I have grown up in Brisbane Australia and lived here my entire life. Well, almost my entire life, I spent a year in the US (back when George Bush Snr was in power). I went to school in Brisbane (again except for the time spent in the US) and also completed university in Brisbane (more on that later), and am even currently employed in Brisbane! (Talk about stuck in the mud!) However I currently have no real desire to leave Brisbane except for a holiday or possibly in many years time. You see there is also a very special girl living in Brisbane at the moment, and she is easily enough of an excuse to stay here as long as she wants to! But enough about her, I am talking about ME!
So... back to uni. I spent 5 years of my life learning about software engineering (and spelling) in a dual degree with computer science. After those 5 years I decided that I didn't like the idea of coding all my life and decided to look for a job in a different area. So (not wanting to stray too far from the boat) I applied for a job as an Assistant Systems Administrator. And given my wonderful personality and unsurpassed talent (I wonder if sarcasm comes across on the web?) I got the job. Funnily enough that job just happened to be with the very same university that give me my degrees (I guess the teaching can't be that bad).
I got my first camera when I was around 10 years old. It was a VERY strange little flat thing and within a year it got lost. But while the camera (and I believe all the photos) was lost, my enjoyment with (good) photos and photography had not.
I ended up deciding on the Canon EOS 400D for 2 reasons. Firstly I think that Canon has a better lense range. Secondly (and this had a lot of pull) the Canon camera was available. I do not want to wait 6 months to get a camera and lense.
Richard Billingham's family photographs - all fags and booze and TV dinners - accidentally led to his explosion on to the art scene. Robert Chesshyre interviews the Turner Prize nominee who invites him round to see the mother and father he has made famous.
I looked at his photos and decided Richard wasn't a photographer I wanted to research for my portfolio. It didn't work for me personally , but in saying that his home and family photographs were interesting . They were real, the subjects weren't gorgeous and they didn't have the make up and hair done which I liked as my photographs were going to be glamours as in make up etc. His mum and dad were quite violent and on the other hand caring a disfunctional family .
Richard took the photographs with a cheap camera and got them developed locally which would superficially classify these as snapshots, but they are better than that. They tell a story of a dysfunctional family, of violence, poverty but also of love and devotion and are also poignant. The images have a saturated chroma to them which reminded me of WIlliam Eggleston’s photos, although this enhances the snapshot aspect it also adds to the documentary feel that helps make this a chronicle of family life rather than just a family album.
A story well worth reading about , a very interesting home if you can cope with the violence but it tells a story Richard's story .
I looked at his photos and decided Richard wasn't a photographer I wanted to research for my portfolio. It didn't work for me personally , but in saying that his home and family photographs were interesting . They were real, the subjects weren't gorgeous and they didn't have the make up and hair done which I liked as my photographs were not going to be glamours at all. His mum and dad were quite violent and on the other hand loving and caring . A real twisted tale.
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