RAYS A LAUGH by Richard Billingham [SIGNED]

Richard Billingham1996SCALO20Young British Artists / YBAsMichael CollinsJulian Germain1990

RAY’S A LAUGH: A READERSunderland University2001Turner PrizeLiz Jobey

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First published in 1996 to enormous acclaim, Richard Billinghams Rays a Laugh is one of the most significant photobooks of the turn of the twentieth century, as well as a cornerstone work of the Young British Artists generation. Formed of starkly intimate images of Billinghams often cha-otic parental home under the heavy effects of alcoholism and poverty, the book was produced in the 1990s with editors Michael Collins and Julian Germain. This new edition restores Billinghams original vision for his deeply personal work for the first time. Including numerous unseen images and a distinct approach to sequencing inflected by Billinghams training as a painter: it constitutes a directors cut and reintroduces a vital and consistently challenging work for a new era.

The publication of this new edition is accompanied by Rays a Laugh: A Reader, edited by Liz Jobey, which traces the books compelling history from Billinghams discovery at Sunderland University, through his Turner Prize nomination, to the present reworked edition.

With texts by RaMell Ross, Tracy K. Smith, Richard McCabe, and Scott Matthews