Paul Graham

Paul Graham is an English photographer born in 1956, he is within that generation of photographers who were amongst the last to engage with the medium before it became part of the broader contemporary art world. Graham much like Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Rineke Djikstra, Thomas Struth and Philip-Lorca DiCorcia engaged with the medium at a time when it was not simply a component in an artists repertoire, but unique artistic territory in its own right. This gives these artists a unique way of turning the stories they want to explore into a photographic medium which can be in-turn understood by the viewer.

His series titled 'A1- The Great North Road' was shot between 1981/2, it was a documentary project which captured the different people and scenes on the British A1 road. The series is an interesting mix between landscape and portrait based photography, I believe he uses this mix to give the series depth which then gives the viewer a more detailed view on the road itself. Out of the photographs I believe Graham's portraits are the most interesting to look at, because he uses simple 'straight on' compositions which are eerily quiet but allow the viewer to study the subject in detail. 

After analysing this Graham's project I feel that I more want to follow the portrait documentary route, where my biggest focus is on the people inside the place instead of just the place. I think what makes this project successful is Graham's choice of place to photograph, I think picking an interesting place to photograph is key to a good series and is something that I will have to think about while trying to decide my idea.