Chris Killip

Much is spoken about Killip’s tender eye and his ability to empathise with a community different to his own. The level of trust can be witnessed from the engagement displayed by his subjects, some of whom he stayed in touch with years after publication. This can be seen right throughout his career as he relished in accomplishing purposeful photography having been exposed to the work of Walker Evans and Paul Strand form an early age

In my most recent essay, I researched and covered Killips project ‘In Flagrante’ which is often described as an iconic vision of Thatcherite Britain. It feels as if historically this may be party pertinent, although it is understood that Killip wished for the project to be seen as an honest understanding of downtrodden environment in which he aspired witness the value of lives.

It is difficult to comprehend that the work was taken without acknowledgement for the scale of the 1970’s and 80’s de-industrialization in the North East. The essence of each composition suggests that the environment was a fairly major part of Killip’s thought processes. The reason behind the unemployment and marginalization would have be felt right throughout the community as a direct consequence of socio-political decisions and the deliberate visual representation of this cuts right into the heart of the causation.

The meaning, whether, implied or unconscious springs out from almost every photograph as the contextualization of hardship stands out quite dramatically as a backdrop to the the lives of those affected by industrial cuts.

Across the many tributes there is a unified agreement that Killip had a natural ability to display tenderness and detail with an underlying ability to contextualise a meaning without ever overstating the obvious. The level of honesty is apparent from those that knew him and is a trait that transfers onto his prints.

Primarily the aspect that I take away from reading tributes and looking at his many projects is the ability to immerse himself in a world that he is then able to truthfully represent. Never appearing to look for adulation or to appeal to popularity, Killip had great awareness regarding photographic readability. His sense of knowing and ability to display sensitivity and intimacy in equal measure is highly revealing within a social documentary.

Chris Killip provides visual understanding that captures subjects without projecting levels of authority upon his subjects. It is possible to visually gain a little of his own character from the very people he is wishing to value.