Rest easy Chris Killip

I can’t claim to have ever met Chris Killip but like many students of photography and photographers especially of a certain age I am very aware of his work and through his work I have met him a little.

He covers the area of work I never really engaged in myself but dreamt one day I might and whilst I embark on some similar subjects I barely scratch the surface compared to the way he got to the heart and soul of his subjects.Spending years getting to know the people but hastily collecting images of times and people who where quickly disappearing, some for ever.

He photographed a time and to certain extent a place I grew up intone I was desperate to leave, one I miss a little now I’m older and the alternative is not always so great. I’m probably romanticising …something Chris could never be accused of but what I do like about him and he said this was he wanted to create a sympathetic look at what what he shot not a cynical, disparaging one. Some might say that is too soft, too romantic and maybe the approach of other documentarists was more effective.I’ve never agreed with that notion and I’m glad I discovered his work.

My favourite quote of his is

“History is what’s written, my pictures are what happened.”

My favourite image and one that really took me a long time to understand why I liked it is this one, it really was one of the images that made me decide I wanted to take photographs .