Brian Griffin was a veteran photographer with a really interesting career, not to mention his work. And that’s if we put it lightly. With a style rare to be seen then and now, Brian Griffin used his creativity to create some of the most imaginative and strange works the photography world has ever seen. Now, sadly, his long career in wacky photography has come to an end.
Who is Brian Griffin
Brian is an interesting photographer, alright. His work often uses darker tones and is usually devoid of color. You might think that his style is serious and dark, but it’s the opposite of that. A lot of Brian’s work is charmingly whimsical, even though the themes often relate to politics, working society, and capitalism. The actual meaning of his photos can be serious; it’s just that Brian often likes to present these topics with strange and funny imagery.
Brian was born in Birmingham on April 13, 1948, and was still active in photography until his death on January 29, 2024. In his long career, Brian focused a lot on portrait photography of workers and salespeople. He also photographed some big pop stars and musicians- Queen, Elvis Costello, Billy Idol, and many others.
Work you may recognize
As you guessed by now, Brian wasn’t a small photographer. Even in the 80s, he did some pretty big projects, such as the photo shoot for Return of the Jedi in 1982. The project includes the main cast in color and black-and-white photos. Brian really let loose and went for extremely creative uses of light and composition.
In conclusion
It’s sad to see such a talent go. Especially after we lost Hans Feurer, another veteran photographer, not long ago. Brian’s work is iconic and a unique blend of seriousness and whimsicality. These two are opposite concepts you rarely see photographers mix together. You need to be able to look at the world in a certain way to know how to capture it like Brian did.
If you are new to his work, I suggest having a look at his Instagram page. If you thought the images in this article were, you may be delighted to know we were barely scratching the surface here.
