QUAD Derby

Portraits by Brian Griffin, patron of Derby’s FORMAT photography festival, open exhibition at National Portrait Gallery for London 2012 Olympic Games commission

Brian Griffin is the first in a series of high-profile photographers to take part in the National Portrait Gallery's project to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Brian has been commissioned to take up to 20 portraits for the first part of the project, of which six have been unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery. These portraits depict some of the people who conceived and won the bid for London and some of the men and women now designing and delivering the Olympic Park infrastructure and other London 2012 venues.
 
Brian Griffin said “My aim is to push my portrait photography another step forward, to push to hopefully create something in a way that's never been seen before, I aim to inspire young photographers – and photographers in general – with the images I'll produce. It's most important to me that this particular photo project leaves a legacy – as well as being enlightening and informative to the general public in the context of the 2012 Games.”

The National Portrait Gallery will commission other high-profile and emerging photographers each year before the Olympics. Each subsequent phase of the project will be displayed at the Gallery, and the final display in summer 2012 will include a larger retrospective of all the commissioned work. For more details about the exhibition, please visit www.npg.org.uk

One of the UK’s most influential photographers, Brian Griffin has a diverse career that has encompassed commercial and fine art photography, film, audio-visual performance, fashion photography and books. He was announced as the Patron of FORMAT International Photography Festival in 2008.

Brian Griffin will give an illustrated talk on Wednesday 9th December 2009 at QUAD, when he will be in conversation with Anne Braybon, Commissions Curator at the National Portrait Gallery, for a Photography talk and networking event.

The talk and networking event is part of a new programme of professional practice by QUAD, celebrating photographic practice and offering networking opportunities. The talk will take place in QUAD from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, tickets are £3.00 and available in advance from QUAD Box office on 01332 290 606. Click here for more information.