Mr Richard Billingham

Biography

Richard Billingham is an artist, photographer, director and screenwriter. His work has a reputation for impactful realism and includes both documentary and narrative story telling. He focuses on themes of home, landscape & place and marginalisation. Projects evolve gradually over a period of years, based on the close observation of everyday life and extensive research.

Richard’s photography and video installations have had over forty solo exhibitions and been included in more than two hundred group exhibitions internationally.

He wrote and directed the BAFTA nominated feature film, ‘Ray & Liz’ (released 2019). It holds 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and 81% on Metacritic (based on 16 reviews) indicating ‘Universal Acclaim.’

Richard was the first recipient of the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 1997 and was nominated for the Turner Prize 2001. He won the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director, London Independent Film Awards 2018; the IWC Schaffhausen Award 2018 and several other prizes for ‘Ray & Liz’.

Richard currently has another feature film in development with the BFI, an adaptation of the contemporary novel ‘At Hawthorn Time’ by Mellissa Harrison.

A new publication of Billingham’s early photographic work from the 1990s ‘Ray’s a Laugh’ was published March 2024 by Mack Books. This was accompanied by a ‘Ray’s a Laugh Reader’ edited by Liz Joby that traces the works history and impact.

Richard has contributed to various symposia including The Ethics of Photography Yale 2007 Newhaven (Keynote); Responding to a Landscape MAC Birmingham 2017 (Keynote); Exposure 3: Human drama and documentary, ICA, London 2015 and Artists Films CPH Doc, Copenhagen, Denmark 2014. This year (2024) he took part in ‘British Photography from the 1990s.’, Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol.

He is regularly asked to adjudicate. In 2019 he was a member of the International Competition Jury at FIDMarseille Film Festival, France. Other past commitments have included The Rome Fellowship in Contemporary Art 2018; The Spectrum Art Prize London 2018; The Royal Photographic Society International Print Exhibition 2015 and New Contemporaries 2009.

He has been a visiting speaker at many public institutions including Chobe Mela Photography Festival Dhaka Bangladesh 2013; Institute for Contemporary Photography Melbourne Australia 2012; Paris Sorbonne University 2010 and Sotherby’s Institute of Art London 2009. More recently (2019) he gave masterclasses at both the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York and Materdiro Centro De Creacion Contemporanea in Madrid.

He is represented by Casorotto Ramsey and Associates, London.

AWARDS

·       Alterna Jury Award, Zaragoza, Spain 2024

·       London Critics Film Awards nomination: Breakthrough British Filmmaker, 2020

·       5th Aceys Artists Choice Nomination: Excellence in Directional Debut 2020

·       European Discovery 2019 Prix FRIPESCI Nomination

·       European Parliament Lux Film Prize Official Selection 2019

·       BAFTA Nomination Best Debut Feature 2019

·       Screen International Nomination Best Film of the Year 2019

·       Grand Prix City of Luxembourg Film Festival 2019

·       Best Film Vilnius Film Festival 2019

·       Best Feature Film Award Subversive Film Festival Croatia 2019

·       SIGNIS Award

·       ADF Cinematography Award,  Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2019

        ADF Best Actress Award, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2019

·       Jury Prize and TV Broadcasting Rights Award Brussels International Festival 2019

·       Best Feature Film 16th Yerevan International Film Festival Armenia 2019

·       Best Picture Not Released in 2018 International Cinephile Society Awards 2019

·       Douglas Hickox Award, Best Debut Director, Independent Film Awards 2018

·       IWC Schaffhausen Award 2018

·       Special Mention Locarno Film Festival 2018

·       Golden Alexander Award Best Film Thessaloniki Film Festival 2018

·       Grand Jury Award Best Director Lisbon and Sintra Film Festival 2018

·       Grand Jury Award Seville Film Festival 2018

·       Silver Star Award for Narrative Film El Gouna Film Festival Egypt 2018

·       Best Film & Best Actress, Batumi International Art House Film Festival 2018

·       Special Mention Festival Du Nouveau Cinema Montreal 2018

·       Wakelin Award Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Swansea 2018

·       Creative Wales Award 2017

·       Leverhulme Fellowship 2016

·       DACs Art360 Award 2016

·       Panavision/Air France prize FidMarseille International Film Festival 2014

·       Artist-in-Residence Programme National Art School Sydney 2012

·       Power of Art Artists Commission BBC & Arts Council of England 2006

·       Artist-in-Residence VIVID Birmingham 2004

·       Prince of Wales Bursary for the Arts Athens 2003

·       Sargant Fellowship British School at Rome 2002

·       Glen Dimplex Artist Award Shortlist Dublin 2001

·       Artists Work Programme Irish Museum Modern Art 2001

·       Turner Prize shortlist 2001

·       Special Jury Prize Diaganale Festival of Austrian Film 1999

·       Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 1997

·       Felix H Man Memorial Prize 1995.

Teaching

Richard is a practice based PhD supervisor and specialises in landscape and place. He is also interested in PhD proposals about the representation of marginalised communities.

Richard especially encourages ‘thinking through making’ and is committed to students reaching full creative potential.