FORMAT International Photography Festival Patron: Brian Griffin

'At present the UK is undergoing an organic process of geographical de-centralisation, with regards to events and centres for  the appreciation of serious photography, and in this movement, I feel FORMAT will become a leading force". 

Born in Birmingham and having studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic School of Photography, Brian Griffin has had a profound effect on the medium in the last 30 years. Described by the British Journal of Photography as “the most unpredictable and influential British portrait photographer of the last three decades” his vision and ability have led him to become involved in some of the most prolific and well visited photography exhibitions of recent years. From Birmingham to Barcelona via Reykjavik his unique style has seen him commissioned by some of the world’s top brands, publications and celebrities to photograph on their behalf, and his pictures for Management Today, showing businessmen in their environment, redefined British portraiture.

In 2009 Brian Griffin’s work was presented in a major exhibition at the Arles Photography Festival. The exhibition included work from two major commissions, Team Photo: the High Speed Channel Tunnel rail link at St Pancras and The Water People, commissioned by Reykjavik Energy.

This was followed in 2010 by an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of the “The Road to 2012” a major photographic commission about the 2012 London Olympics. Later in 2010 in Birmingham a major retrospective of his work was shown at three venues in the city centre, with the year finishing with a major commission on The Black Country that was shown at the College des Bernardins during the Mois de la Photo in Paris, which returns to the UK to be shown this year at the New Art Gallery Walsall.

For 2011 he has been commissioned to produce a major exhibition to launch Marseille – Provence 2013 European Capital of Culture.

www.braingriffin.co.uk