“Photography lacks intentionality." | Photographer Paul Graham | Louisiana Channel

“I always feel I have an artistic collaborator - and it is the world.”
Meet famous British photographer Paul Graham in this personal and in-depth interview about his life, career, and thoughts on photography.
“Photography lacks intentionality. The painter places every mark on the painting. The sculptor every ounce of the form. But photography? Did you really intend that? To embrace improvisation, to embrace that this is the wonder of photography, is a way of accepting the burden of life.”
Paul Graham is a contemporary British photographer living and working in New York City. Born in 1956 in Stafford, United Kingdom, he studied at Bristol University and began taking photographs during the 1970s. In 1981, Graham completed his first acclaimed work, A1: The Great North Road, a series of color photographs made along the A1, Great Britain’s longest numbered road connecting London and Edinburgh at both ends. His use of color film in the early 1980s, when British photography was dominated by the traditional black-and-white social documentary, had a revolutionizing effect on the genre. Soon a new school of photography emerged, with artists like Martin Parr, Richard Billingham, Simon Norfolk, and Nick Waplington making the switch to color.
Graham is known for his sequential color prints of people engaged in daily life. His 12-volume photobook A Shimmer of Possibility (2007) summarizes Graham’s interest in calling attention to overlooked activities or places. “It has steadily become less important to me that the photographs are about something in the most obvious way. I am interested in more elusive and nebulous subject matter,” he has explained. The artist has been the subject of more than eighty solo exhibitions worldwide. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum (all in New York City), the Tate Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum (both London), the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Fotomuseum Winterthur, Musee de la Photographie (Charleroi), Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Copenhagen) among others.
Paul Graham was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at his home in New York City in March 2022.
Camera: Matthew Heymann
Edited by: Signe Boe Pedersen
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2022
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling and Fritz Hansen.
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[@thelouisianachannel]

*Watch Paul Grahams advice to young photographers:* ✨ kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqu0eJ6EqaqXrq8

[@minlee4010]

오늘도 좋은 하루

[@seb_steimel]

"Accepting life as it flows rather than trying to control it" - rarely has a description of artistic work fit so well for me. Thanks a lot for this video!

[@jeremoe1]

I've watched this 3 or 4 times, different days, but I keep coming back to it. He sums it up quite well, what photography is about, at least for me. Thanks for a great video !

[@janethughes9589]

Wonderful. It felt like an encounter with goodness and integrity

[@elenaquintana8176]

He blew my mind and made everything make so much sense. My mind felt like it got a hug because I feel understood somehow and I also feel like I can understand a little bit better as well.

[@asystasyorg]

I appreciate both Paul Graham's philosophy of photography and my profound divergences from it as a literature and philosophy scholar. Thank you, too, for demonstrating that technics such as sharp images, "proper focus," etc. *are not always paramount* and that the image can transcend that. Thank you!

[@andrewwilson4733]

Great work! i swear every photographer says they used colour when it was unusual ha

[@yeohi]

NG was using color before he was born.

[@andrewwilson4733]

@@yeohi hahaha

[@linjicakonikon7666]

I used color when it was unusual. There, I said it.

[@AliHasan-hs7dp]

I cry as I look at this documentory. Finding a sort of kinship, i wonder why it makes feel a bucket full of emotions, is it the truth of his art? The best cure of lonliness is the possibility of conspiring with the world around you.

[@robertclapsadle8552]

I'm reminded of the paintings of Edward Hopper

[@petermach8635]

Very interesting, I used to work with 5x4 but with some medium format when required, the scarcity of film-stock when out on location forced a great deal of thought and consideration over every image made ..... digital largely killed that by making the raw-material of photography free and unlimited, the balance swung from famine to feast, from contemplation before-hand to editing afterwards.

[@OrtoInScatola]

Another beautiful short documentary! Thank you! I love how you composed the interview, with the images and the music.

[@csnerd21]

alright I'm off to go shooting now... have a date with Astaire. 📸

[@cmgreatest7892]

Dear Louisiana Channel, I appreciate the work you are doing, capturing artists/photographers for me to have an intimate look at their work and processes. I thank you and my students thank you.

[@thelouisianachannel]

Thank you so much for your comment. It means the world to us! Thanks for watching ❤️

[@THM531]

Thank you Paul, I’ve been looking for these words for a long time

[@MargaretWaagePhotography]

"Learning to see life, flowing and coming at you and moving past you." Lovely! Beautiful images!

[@davidxflood]

Delighted to see this, love Paul's work and great to hear his thoughts on the medium!

[@williambolton4698]

This guy's hypocrisy took my breath away. He is clearly an old gentile, London, liberal- left wing, middle-class, punk rocker who hated Thatcher. His quietly spoken bigotry against capitalism is irritating. He mentions all of the assets that the UK government sold off but he fails to point out that they had been run into the ground by civil servants who couldn't run commercial enterprises. The state was paying huge, unaffordable amounts of money to sustain vastly inefficient corporations. The UK was "the sick man of Europe". Adam Smith who Thatcher idolized was Scottish not American. However, the absolute clincher was when he told us that he went into self publishing and independently sold books of his own work. That is exactly what Thatcher wanted people to do and it looks like he has done well out of it. I'm not a fan of Thatcher, I'm not even a Tory but I hate half truths and hypocrisy.

[@EnvoyeeSpeciale-ey9bx]

Tout est dit ! Voici un véritable photographe d'une exceptionnelle acuité ! Merci

[@AlOne-xg6dv]

Very interesting philosophy of life which resonates completely in his photographic journey. Ride with the flow and then what's next ? We will see ...

[@martinhendry]

Shimmer of Possibility is such a peerless piece of work, very simple yet opens a door as it relates to the treatment of time in photos which has not been explored enough by photographers to date. It is something that photography is uniquely capable of.

[@dylandutson1626]

It feels like a rare moment of someone transcending their medium. Like even Photography would be surprised.

[@allenchurchill6183]

My intentions:: where I go, what I point my lens at, the light at a given time of day, focal length, comp choices, printing and portfolio selection. I am looking for patterns in nature that point to a creator… lots of opportunity for intention. Cheers

[@jebidiahkorn]

I just played a Goldmund album and looked at his photographs for a solid hour. So evocative

[@roastbeefy0weefy]

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

[@TurikoSanShiro222]

on 12:39, that quote... what a complicated way to state the obvious, my god

[@vnphantom]

As an architectural photographer, I really appreciate Paul's attention to vertical lines composition in his photographs. Yeah, it's kind of our OCDs in architectural photography.

[@skwirl828]

Why is the lack of diversity sad? If that’s how it was then that’s how it was. It’s not sad

[@SnowBran]

I appreciate your time and effort making this for us.

[@MrGoodpairofshoes]

fantastic, So so true when looking back on street photography it will work more effectively if it's the flow which is recorded, this is the now of then. not a staged image this tells me nothing really well not enough.

[@Sunday_Jazz]

Brilliant interview. Thank you

[@MikeChudley]

This is incredibly interesting stuff. Loved the video.

[@thelouisianachannel]

Very glad you liked it :)

[@omaryohan7694]

Such a nicely edited video, thank you for putting this together and for the talk!

[@thelouisianachannel]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@edwardferry8247]

It’s sad how he doesn’t address the long time failure of the neo-liberal project and the damage it’s done to the planet and the human spirit. There feels a middle class nostalgia for working class decay here. The fact he isn’t antagonistic toward Thatcher weighs heavy on the long term value of A1. It’s creator needed to be more than an aesthetic observer trying to prettify the submission of a culture in 10x8 negative grandeur. An important interview in the political context of how images should ultimately be evaluated.

[@ieyucel]

Wow! Absolutely how I seeking for photography, the life it self. Flowing, streaming, changing... thanks for this episode.

[@Diaryplan]

Wonderful video. Thank you

[@matthewrideout255]

Beautiful interview. But please don’t Ken burns the photos, it’s so cheesy and distracting.

[@peaou]

Thank you, that was beautifull

[@mariogines9331]

Marketing and advertising is the death of aesthetics

[@rolf_siggaard]

Love this! ‘Flow of life’ approach and ethos of peace and respect very inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

[@NABloisROTH]

The A-1 series especially interests me as I get back into photography and find myself shooting automobile and telecommunication infrastructure. Really enjoyed this video.

[@vincecosta]

Thank you Louisiana Channel for making these interviews with such great creators. So much to learn. Much appreciated. Cheers!

[@xwhite2020]

Everyone loves Sean, everyone loves Flea.

[@bigjohndavid1]

The assertion that naturally awe-inspiring things such as rainbows and sunsets (and autumn leaves) are cliches is truly life-draining and destructive.

[@crazyduck1254]

very much enjoyed and watched til the end, thanks for sharing, though the sleeping persons were a bit of a leap for me

[@benjaminfargen]

Love it🙌...thank you for sharing🙏📸💯

[@krishnapriyaka3261]

this is amazing

[@rynoreeno]

Interesting that Graham found it sad that a place was homegenous and not diverse, I wonder if he has Jewish roots.

[@agomodern]

I wonder if he eats beans on toast like my mom's husband.

[@goldfinch2283]

Well, well……

[@PovlKvols]

❤️

[@TiltedElix]

ive been making complete verses on a single soft, it seems everyone of these tutorials i find like to put a single instrunt on each

[@andriykovach2736]

Wonderfully beautiful video!! I enjoyed it!

[@_GhostGarden_]

Very inspiring.

[@bingbongtoysKY]

🤘

[@gordonbrown5901]

'Now' is where everything happens.

[@markames3688]

Encouraging

[@davidpharo]

Excellent.

[@devinford2724]

Brilliant perspective. Thank you.

[@slimnics]

so cool !

[@StephaneDesnault]

Thanks for a great video.

[@TreyVaswal]

8x10 is the format of the Gods.

[@eugenehvorostyanov2409]

Really good. Thank you. ❤

[@void.lawyer]

Perfect way to start my day. 7:46 am

[@AnonAnono]

What in the vocal fry

[@R.H12]

it's wonderful and beautiful

[@joelk8228]

Great show! Thanks!!

[@hubbert22]

Really interesting!

[@ohstanley3058]

Why is it sad if there wasn’t “diversity “ in the club photos? Does every photo book need to have a mix of every race and gender? I like having a record of different cultures and not everything looking like NYC.

[@antonodonnell8238]

Interesting what you said…I feel similar about street/doc photos of San Francisco. I shoot Castro district often for a different flavor.

[@edmoore]

He lives and works in modern new york, the internet exists, he is probably just pre-empting the question he gets within the first few minutes anyway.

[@EduardToews]

Guess it just makes the photo way more interesting to watch

[@wtrbrns]

He's literally talking about how photography can tell us something about our culture and send a message, can't you try to think about what the lack of that diversity means? What reflects of us? Of the places it portraits? That's exactly the art of it. And that's exactly what you have, a record of that culture. And what it says about that culture, may in fact be, sad.

[@ohstanley3058]

@@wtrbrns yes, and I’m saying these photos reflecting a ‘less diverse’ UK club scene does not automatically equal it being sad. Not sure your point here?

[@johnman5537]

tat

[@mrenovatio3739]

snapshots

[@firsthandaccount]

Hit the nail on the head. Been putting intention into my work for years and love seeing more people notice this shift

[@louislapointe8996]

I can not but reflect on the work of the great Canadian photographer Jeff Wall for the confluence between the precision of the thought process and the image: so well articulated.

[@ollotheollo]

Amazing artist. So excited for this interview

[@aeon-adv]

Muy bueno!

[@RogerHyam]

Wonderful

[@supermassivebk]

我书架上好像也有那本砖块封面的摄影集

[@low3242]

His work is contrary to punk(which is Dionysian) and quiet boring with the basis of boomer core Walker Evans/Eggleston looking at the mundane bs life aspects of working class with their dead ass bougie Apollonian gaze and sensibilities. Martin Parr is way more closer to Punk due to his usage of humor(which is Dionysian) in his photography. The scope of these photographs(outside of UK) are totally limited by their cultural, historical, geographical and political signifiers. At least you can laugh at clever photographs of Martin Parr even if you live outside the UK. The punk of photography(both in spirit and ethic) was in Japan, specifically The Provoke magazine and co. 60s and 70s on the whole were totally crazy years for Japanese photography in general.

[@kenmarten6049]

I think I get the gist of what you're saying. I don't know his work much, but I was quite underwhelmed by the photography I saw presented in this film. There is an insouciant quality to his work that made me feel uncomfortable.

[@low3242]

@John Slye "forced compositions" what a dumb phrase. whenever an artist makes art with his name on it he kill everyone by saying that he knows the truth and everyone should look at it and acknowledge it. no one can never escape this subjectivity and heightened egoism of being an artist. in art we don't look at the work of an artist for "objectivity" but rather how he views the world so every photo is literally a "forced composition" because it's the photographer subjectivity which told to to pick up a certain camera and lens, go to certain location at a certain time, choose a certain subject, choose subject placement, choose the angle so on and so on. but you're are impregnated by this age old disease of representation in straight photography who are apostles of a chimera called "how things are". "deeply cynical and dehumanizing" why he shouldn't be? people are cynical, irrational, self destructive, selfish, deceivers, they dehumanize each other, they kill each other, they bully each other, they steal, they lie etc. that's the other the side of humanity which is also "humanity", only cowards don't want to face and represent this side. Graham's photos are dehumanizing, the way he present his subjects makes me feel like they're Mannequins, he is a one liner photographer. "instead of trying to force a hierarchy of success of success" because whatever art i like is superior, simple as. and i am not """forcing""" hierarchy, it already exists everywhere, that's why you're simping for Graham rather than some no name now dead and forgotten photographer, that's why academics favor few photographers over millions of others.

[@crazyduck1254]

the thing that keeps coming to mind for me is the brilliance of these old large and medium format film cameras. They have the gift of seeing the feelings lingering in a scene that would be rendered useless by modern digital cameras.

[@BlazejMarczak]

Operator have a gift. Cameras, old or new are just recording devices. Fetishizing and romanticizing film cameras is just that.

[@sie11pervan]

"It wasn't a very diverse country" No country really was until 60-70 years ago. People have an intrinsic motivation coming from their instinct to choose an in-group bias. Out-group bias will never be preferred as it has to overwrite instinct. It's just the way it is.

[@borderlands6606]

The A1 photographs were original as art and documentary. The large format street photographs don't work as "street" or "art" photography. Photographic series have to have something compelling about them individually and as a sequence. To me the photographer seems creatively lost and is hoping the saturation and clarity of large format colour film will rescue the image. Or I could simply be missing what Paul Graham is trying to achieve.

[@borderlands6606]

@@cansagarri6749 I should have said individually *or* as a sequence. The sequence has to be more than the sum of the parts.

[@MikeKleinsteuber]

Not a great photographer

[@MontyCantsin5]

He certainly is.

[@lionstandingII]

One word- "Eggleston".....now go back to microbiology.