Something That I’ll Never Really See: Contemporary Photography from the V&A

Richard Billingham’s frank photographs of his family, which are still provoking debate nearly 15 years later, will be among a touring exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London coming to Coventry.

The photographer, who grew up in Cradley Heath in Birmingham, was a student when he captured his mother, Liz, father, Ray, and brother, Jason, in a series of shots which he processed at a local chemist.

The emotions captured within the family home shot Richard to national fame when the images were included in exhibitions and a book called Ray’s a Laugh.

His 1994 photograph of his mother, who died three years ago, putting together a jigsaw is part of the Something That I’ll Never Really See Contemporary Photography from the V&A which will run at The Herbert in Jordan Well in Coventry city centre from September 16, 2008 until January 11, 2009.

Richard said: “I took most of the photos on an instamatic camera and there was nothing complicated about it.
“It is nearly 15 years now since I took these photos. When people look at them now, they still have the same potency even after all this time.

“I held the camera above my mum’s head while she was doing the jigsaw. I’m not even sure if I looked through the view finder.

“I think it is a great portrait of her. You can’t see her face and I suppose if you take a portrait of somebody, you should see their face but in this instance you can’t.
“She is pretty engrossed in the jigsaw and although you can’t see her face, you can get a good sense of what she’s about.

“My mum loved doing jigsaws and that is what she did the most of. When she died, I had to sort the flat out and there was over 100 jigsaws in a cupboard. I threw them away – the pieces filled three black bin bags – apart from a couple which I kept.”

The dad-of-two, who now lives in Wales with his partner and their two children, Walter, aged two, and Ramona, aged two months, said he had wanted to be a painter originally.

“I have given up trying to be a painter – photography is easier because you just press a button!” Richard added.
Around 40 contemporary photographs in Something That I'll Never Really See are drawn from the V&A’s permanent collections and include some of the most innovative works created during a pivotal period in photographic history