#seacoal

Chris spend years trying to get access to this community, but every time he set up his camera at the beach, they would harass him and even physically threaten him. Every time he got chased away, he swore he would never come back again. But something kept pulling him back in. After 8 years of trying he finally got access, when after an attack and a dramatic fall in the sand he decided to confront these man in their favourite pub. When he told them who he was and why he was there, they didn’t believe him. They thought of him as a government spy, or at least an unwanted intruder. Then a guy walked into the bar who recognized him from years before during another shoot and validated his identity to the rest. This man was the key to Killip’s access, as he was an important member of the community. Sometimes a lucky event can help, as the result of karma or persistence. Or both.

Chris then lived for 14 months on a caravan on the beach to make this project. His endurance and passion amazes me and I think it’s precisely that which you can sense in his photo’s. It’s not about his ego, he was just genuinely attracted to something that didn’t feel the same way about him. In a time when I feel like a lot of photographers are making projects with ego or a quick success as a motivation, Chris Killip is a breath of fresh air from the past. I always enjoy going through this book so much.

“I was just trying to understand then that no matter what you did, you inevitably had a political position. How declared it was was up to you, but it was going to be inherent in the work, and it was something you should think about as a maker. I never worried about my position in the art world. I thought time and history would ultimately judge me, that my job was to get on with it, to make the work and to make it wholeheartedly from what had informed me.” – Chris Killip interview from his website