Richard Billingham

‘The pictures […] are of my father Raymond (born 1931): my mother Elisabeth (born 1950) and my brother Jason (born 1977). Ray is a chronic alcoholic and has drunk for as long as I can remember.’

Billingham took the photos of his family in their Cradley Heath council flat in the 1980s- 90s as studies for paintings. But once he shared them with his tutors he found it possible to open up about his difficult childhood. The prints were published in 1996 as ‘Ray’s a Laugh’ and featured in the notorious Sensation exhibit of Young British Artists at the Royal Academy in 1997.