Askam-in-Furness photos on display for first time

Photographs taken by one of the UK’s most influential documentary photographers are going on public display for the first time.

Chris Killip spent time in Askam-in-Furness in 1981 and 1982, capturing the intersection between urban and rural life in the west Cumbrian coastal town by befriending members of the community.

But while some images made their way into Killip’s archive, he gave many of his portrait subjects the pictures back to hang in their own homes.

A recent research project by Signal Film and Media gallery, in Barrow-in-Furness, saw it reconnect with the subjects of Killip’s photographs, resulting in the discovery of more than 100 prints.

Curated by Phil Northcott, the unseen images feature alongside the original Askam-in-Furness series, which was featured in Killip’s photobook In Flagrante, his documentation of the deindustrialisation of northern England between 1973-1985.

“We know that Chris Killip developed a close relationship with members of the community and gave the portrait subjects their portraits to hang in their own homes,” Mr Northcott said.

The images were small gifts Killip made to individuals in Askam.

Mr Northcott’s friend Lee was photographed by Killip in Boy with Pigeon and given back the print, which features in the exhibition.

“These images offer us an important and poetic record of a community shaped by industry, landscape, and resilience,” Mr Northcott said.

“While selected works in the series have been shown internationally, the complete series has never been shown in its entirety since Chris Killip shared his work with the Askam community soon after he’d made it, in 1982.”

The exhibition features 20 photographs from 1982, hand-printed by Killip and loaned by the Chris Killip Photography Trust and Martin Parr Foundation, and 59 digital scans which include those from within the community.

“It’s quite a small community, so it’s not hard to track them down,” Mr Northcott said.

“One thing he always said was that he preferred to see his pictures on people’s walls instead of exhibitions.”

British documentary photographer Martin Parr described Killip as “one of the key players in postwar British photography”.

“He led the way in which he would befriend the communities he photographed, and this created the intimacy and strength of his images.”

The complete series of Askam-in-Furness by Chris Killip runs at Signal’s newly refurbished Cooke Studios in Barrow from 19 September to 1 November.