Snapshots of early ’80s
vocative images of a Britain fading into the past abound in a striking collection of photographs by Paul Graham.
Originally self-published by Graham in 1983, A1 – The Great North Road is a portrait of the nation seen from the A1, from London to Edinburgh.
As well as paving the way for a new generation of colour photographers upon its initial publication, the book documents the vast sociopolitical changes across the country under Margaret Thatcher, and offers a new way of thinking about our nation today: the political divides between North and South, our relationship to domestic travel, and the regional inequalities along one road.
A1 – The Great North
ERoad was Paul Graham’s first book. It had a startling impact on British photography, using the tradition of social documentary with a fresh approach to colour. Graham travelled repeatedly along the Great North Road with a large-format camera, to record the people, buildings and landscape of early ’80s Britain.
The award-winning photographer has previously had solo exhibitions at Museum of ModernArt in New York and Tate and Whitechapel galleries in London.
Now rare, Graham’s 1980s trilogy of books is being republished by MACK this month. The publication will be accompanied by a show at Huxley Parlour in London in October. The book, which comes in embossed linen hardcover, costs £40. Visit mackbooks.co.uk/products/ a1-the-great-north-road-brpaul-graham for details.