http://cargocollective.com Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:08:58 +0000 http://cargocollective.com en http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/The-Water-People http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/following/briangriffin-facetoface/The-Water-People Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:08:58 +0000 Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective 550622 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_15.jpeg" width="664" height="670" width_o="664" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_15_o.jpeg" data-mid="2592000" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_12.jpg" width="666" height="670" width_o="666" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_12_o.jpg" data-mid="2591999" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_41.jpg" width="665" height="670" width_o="665" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_41_o.jpg" data-mid="2592004" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_17.jpg" width="660" height="670" width_o="660" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_17_o.jpg" data-mid="2592002" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_16.jpg" width="663" height="670" width_o="663" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550622/BGriffin_16_o.jpg" data-mid="2592001" border="0" align="left"/> In 2005 Brian Griffin was invited by the Icelandic geothermal energy company, Reykjavik Energy, to undertake a commission. The original idea was simply to ‘represent water’ and he was free to interpret it exactly as he saw fit. His unique solution to this project was to create a mythic tale of an aerial adventure across the Icelandic landscape in search of The Water People. Griffin drew upon Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth to visualise the pathway of Reykjavik Energy’s remarkable geothermal infrastructure as a modern Icelandic saga. The adventure is retold through a surreal, filmic narrative of large-scale photographs. The flight of fancy unfolds into a voyage across a netherworld of gaseous, ethereal landscapes, following a pathway of polished metallic pipelines to discover The City of the Water People, inhabited by strange, amorphous, liquid life forms. The work combines artfully constructed portraits, utilising a specially-made screen to create a watery abstraction, together with landscapes inspired by the German artist Caspar David Freidriech. Griffin’s heavy use of symbolism, his fictional narratives and Noirish aesthetic runs counter to the objective, documentary approach that dominates much of contemporary art and corporate photography. In 2005 Brian Griffin was invited by the Icelandic geothermal energy company, Reykjavik Energy, to undertake a commission. The original idea was simply to... http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/Team http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/following/briangriffin-facetoface/Team Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:08:56 +0000 Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective 550619 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/BG074.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="670" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/BG074_o.jpg" data-mid="2591994" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/SHOT74_TRACKWORKERS.jpg" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/SHOT74_TRACKWORKERS_o.jpg" data-mid="2591995" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/SHOT75_AM1.jpg" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/SHOT75_AM1_o.jpg" data-mid="2591996" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/SHOT102_JTandCO.jpg" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/SHOT102_JTandCO_o.jpg" data-mid="2591997" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/BG_Builders_10.jpg" width="664" height="670" width_o="664" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550619/BG_Builders_10_o.jpg" data-mid="2591993" border="0" align="left"/> From his seminal 1980s series, Work, on the building of Broadgate in the City of London, to his recent commission from Reykjavik Energy, The Water People, Brian Griffin became renowned for his unconventional approach to corporate portraiture, employing complex lighting set-ups and introducing a sometimes surreal twist to his compositions. In 2006 London and Continental Railways commissioned Griffin to bring a sense of heroism to the thousands of workers involved in Britain’s largest ever construction project: the people who built the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Griffin captured the workers at St Pancras in a make-shift car park studio, visualising them as courageous figures, lending them a valiant status through his trademark directional lighting, classic use of black-and-white and formal posing, reminiscent of Russian Constructivist imagery. While the workers are portrayed as heroes, the managers – the thinkers controlling this massive undertaking – are caught in more contemplative mood, shot in cinematic compositions while making decisions among the city of portacabins around the St Pancras construction site. In group images, the managerial teams are given a more painterly treatment, visualised as 17th Century patrons and photographed as if posing for a Frans Hals portrait, frozen in celestial gazes, while US-based project engineers are pictured in mysterious, slightly surreal little narratives – puzzles to be solved. From his seminal 1980s series, Work, on the building of Broadgate in the City of London, to his recent commission from Reykjavik Energy, The Water People, Brian... http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/Portraits http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/following/briangriffin-facetoface/Portraits Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:35:46 +0000 Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective 550325 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/BG001.jpg" width="446" height="670" width_o="446" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/BG001_o.jpg" data-mid="2572530" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/19.jpg" width="667" height="670" width_o="667" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/19_o.jpg" data-mid="2572529" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/BG067.jpg" width="662" height="670" width_o="662" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/BG067_o.jpg" data-mid="2572531" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/BG091.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="670" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/BG091_o.jpg" data-mid="2572532" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/Donald-at-the-Savoy.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="670" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550325/Donald-at-the-Savoy_o.jpg" data-mid="2572533" border="0" align="left"/> Over the last 38 years, Brian Griffin has produced a series of iconic portraits of politicians, writers, actors and musicians for a range of publications including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Face, Time Out and The Observer Magazine. In 2003, Griffin was commissioned to photograph a series of 37 portraits for The People and the City – a Cultural Portrait of Birmingham exhibition. “I’d have a person within an environment because environment was important to demonstrate how I felt about the subject and show also what he did,” says Griffin on his approach to portraiture. “I gradually moved in nearer where you saw some environment and the person had some sort of related still life. In recent years I’ve gone right in to show just the head, working in a studio where I have facilities for using lights in a controllable situation.” “I sometimes see the shoot itself as a bit of a chess game. I meet the subject and have seconds to come to an assumption about a person’s character and how to approach it. Sometimes I’ll be very sensitive, while on other occasions I’ll go a fair way down the road of trying to irritate a subject in order to get the picture I’m looking for.” Over the last 38 years, Brian Griffin has produced a series of iconic portraits of politicians, writers, actors and musicians for a range of publications including... http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/The-Fashion-Industry http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/following/briangriffin-facetoface/The-Fashion-Industry Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:50:10 +0000 Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective 550615 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/Alex-Wec.jpg" width="669" height="670" width_o="669" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/Alex-Wec_o.jpg" data-mid="2572571" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/ANDRE-COURREGES.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="670" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/ANDRE-COURREGES_o.jpg" data-mid="2572572" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/BG072.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="670" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/BG072_o.jpg" data-mid="2572575" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/BG086.jpg" width="503" height="670" width_o="503" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/BG086_o.jpg" data-mid="2572577" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/MANOLO-BLAHNIK.jpg" width="664" height="670" width_o="664" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550615/MANOLO-BLAHNIK_o.jpg" data-mid="2572579" border="0" align="left"/> When Griffin left art college in 1972, his heart was set on becoming a fashion photographer in London. The Three Day Week led to the closure of many fashion magazines, so he found a job replacing the chains on the overhead cranes in Round Oak Steelworks in Brierley Hill. He then gave London another try and was taken on by Management Today. Here, Griffin began to develop his distinct visual language through his ability to see and then represent familiar things and types of people in new and wonder-filled ways. After early forays into fashion photography for Tatler and Harpers & Queen in the late 1970s, Griffin set up his own studio in Rotherhithe in 1980. This became an important stepping stone towards his career as a fashion photographer as it allowed him to manipulate the power of light to a maximum level. “I started to develop my own unique way of using light to my advantage,” he says. “By understanding how light works inside, you can use the same understanding outside as well.” Griffin’s fashion clients include L'Uomo Vogue, Spoon Magazine, Comme des Garçons, Shiseido, iD and Arena. When Griffin left art college in 1972, his heart was set on becoming a fashion photographer in London. The Three Day Week led to the closure of many fashion... http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/Men-At-Work http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/following/briangriffin-facetoface/Men-At-Work Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:41:43 +0000 Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective 550603 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/BG011.jpg" width="459" height="670" width_o="459" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/BG011_o.jpg" data-mid="2572587" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/HOWERD-DAWSON.jpg" width="664" height="670" width_o="664" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/HOWERD-DAWSON_o.jpg" data-mid="2572594" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/c_2-1.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="670" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/c_2-1_o.jpg" data-mid="2592009" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/Moet-chandon-copy.jpg" width="666" height="670" width_o="666" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/Moet-chandon-copy_o.jpg" data-mid="2592010" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/Thames-TV.jpg" width="670" height="445" width_o="670" height_o="445" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550603/Thames-TV_o.jpg" data-mid="2592011" border="0" align="left"/> During the 1970s Brian Griffin photographed a series of portraits for the magazine Management Today. These were not the familiar straight-laced portraits that adorned many boardrooms, but witty and slightly surreal images that subverted the notions of men in grey suits and demystified the corporate world. Many of these images were subsequently published alongside portraits of politicians, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, trade unionists, educators and representatives in the media in his acclaimed books –Power, British Management in Focus (1981) and Work (1988). The success of this work led to a series of significant corporate commissions for companies including Lloyds TSB, Coutts Bank, British Airways and BT. Griffin photographed a series of stunning portraits of workers, showing them as heroes or knights lying in state, during his acclaimed project documenting the construction of the Broadgate Centre in London for Rosehaugh Stanhope Developments in the late 1980s. His most recent corporate projects include The Water People, for Reykjavik Energy, Team Photo, a book and exhibition for the 2007 opening of St Pancras Station and a major commission for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. During the 1970s Brian Griffin photographed a series of portraits for the magazine Management Today. These were not the familiar straight-laced portraits that... http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/The-Music-Industry http://cargocollective.com/briangriffin-facetoface/following/briangriffin-facetoface/The-Music-Industry Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:27:58 +0000 Brian Griffin - Face to Face, A Retrospective 550573 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/George-Melly_London-1990.jpg" width="663" height="670" width_o="663" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/George-Melly_London-1990_o.jpg" data-mid="2572559" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/GEORGE-MARTIN.jpg" width="666" height="670" width_o="666" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/GEORGE-MARTIN_o.jpg" data-mid="2572558" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/IAN-DRURY.jpg" width="666" height="670" width_o="666" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/IAN-DRURY_o.jpg" data-mid="2572560" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/QUEEN-2.jpg" width="666" height="670" width_o="666" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/QUEEN-2_o.jpg" data-mid="2572561" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/Siouxie_2_F1.jpg" width="659" height="670" width_o="659" height_o="670" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/46447/550573/Siouxie_2_F1_o.jpg" data-mid="2572562" border="0" align="left"/> Music has always played a big part in Brian Griffin’s social and professional life and his photography and film-making have always been in demand in the music industry. He began working for Stiff Records in the late 1970s, photographing Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was here that he was introduced to the graphic designer Barney Bubbles and they began a series of collaborations on record sleeves and publication projects. He worked prolifically throughout the post-punk and New Romantic eras (1978-84) when record sleeve design and his own work were heavily influenced by Expressionism and Constructivism. Working on location and in his Rotherhithe studio, Griffin’s client list for portraits, films and videos has included Kate Bush, Brian Eno, George Martin, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Peter Gabriel, King Sunny Adé, Sly and Robbie, Devo and The Teardrop Explodes. Griffin’s shot for Joe Jackson’s 1978 album, Look Sharpe, is listed among the 100 greatest album covers of all time. His shot for Depeche Mode’s 1982 album, A Broken Frame, was featured on the cover of Life Magazine’s special issue, The Greatest Photographs of the ‘80s. Music has always played a big part in Brian Griffin’s social and professional life and his photography and film-making have always been in demand in the music...