Paul Graham

Europe–America is not a Paul Graham retrospective, but rather a juxtaposition of two classic series from the British photographer’s career that encompass certain key themes permeating his oeuvre. Long out of print, New Europe (1986–1992) contrasted the optimism of an economically expanding Europe with the ongoing legacy of the continent’s major conflicts, from the dictatorships of Franco and Hitler to the Irish conflict, and with the banalities of consumerism. Today, as Europe falters in the worldwide economic downturn, New Europe makes the recent past seem ancient history. The second series is A Shimmer of Possibility (2004–2006) which recorded telling signs of class disparity in Bush-era America—from Boston to Pittsburgh to Texas—amid sublime moments of glory in chance detail. Loosely inspired by Chekov’s short stories, and hailed as “one of the most important advances in contemporary photographic practice that has taken place in a long while,” A Shimmer of Possibility became a celebrated photobook classic, its first edition selling out with extraordinary swiftness. In both series, Graham portrays social realities with a sense of historical scale that rises above both documentary and narrative traditions in photography. Combined, they offer a vision of the recent western past that is of great relevance to our cultural moment.

Published in 1986, Beyond Caring is now regarded as one of the key works from Britain's wave of "New Colour" photography. Paul Graham (born 1956) was commissioned to present his view of "Britain in 1984" by the Photographer's Gallery in London, and turned his attention towards the breakdown of the welfare benefits system across the United Kingdom. In the "lemon green walls" of waiting rooms and the all-day "inevitable queues," Graham captured the poor working conditions and the inefficient service of the overburdened social security and unemployment offices across the nation. Photographing surreptitiously, his camera is both witness and protagonist within a bureaucratic system that speaks to the humiliation and indignity aimed towards the most vulnerable in society. Errata's complete reproduction of this now rare and controversial book is augmented with contemporary essays by writer and curator David Chandler and Errata Creative Director Jeffrey Ladd.

The Errata Editions' Books on Books series is an ongoing publishing project dedicated to making rare and out-of-print photography books accessible to students and photobook enthusiasts. These are not reprints or facsimiles but complete studies of the original books. Each volume in the series presents the entire content, page for page, of an original master bookwork which, up until now, has been too rare or expensive for most to experience. Through a mix of classic and contemporary titles, this series spans the breadth of photographic practice as it has appeared on the printed page and allows further study of the creation and meanings of these great works of art. Each volume in the series contains illustrations of every page in the original photobook, a new essay by an established writer on photography, production notes about the creation of the original edition and biographical and bibliographical information about each artist.

This is the first U.S. release of this widely praised book. New Europe seeks to dig beneath the utopian dream of a united continent arising to face the dawn of the 21st century. Paul Graham's photographs reflect on the inescapable shadow of history that falls over each nation's conscience, from the dictatorships of Franco and Hitler, to the Holocaust and the Irish conflict. Thus burden is interwoven with a questioning of the banality of modern day consumption-led culture. Neither a narrative nor a conventional documentary, this body of photographs builds into a visual poem that resonates across the social and psychological landscape of Europe today.