Description

Richard Denyer: Affinity and Kindred is a wonderful photography book about lives shaped by sea and faith. It spans two distinctive places: Norfolk in Eastern England and the Western Isles of Scotland.

‘An eye for idiosyncracy, and for objects out of the way, moves these images beyond predictable registers of craft and devotion’

Affinity and Kindred is a highly original limited edition book of photographs. It interweaves images of landscapes, interiors and people. Equally commenting on craft skills and belief systems, Richard Denyer covered his major interests. He managed to balance his views between Norfolk and the Outer Hebrides: two edges of the United Kingdom. Deeply insightful, Richard manages to capture the telling detail as much as the chance incident.

Based on a long-term project undertaken by Richard Denyer in the last years of his life, the book contains over 100 of his best photographs. As a result, it is a terrific testament to the career of one of our best loved photographers. Also it documents the lives and places he got to know so well, in the most compelling way.  David Matless and Will Self have added well-chosen words to the introductory pages.

Introductory texts

The introduction by David Matless traces the antecedents of Denyer’s work. He situates the photographer in a sequence  encompassing PH Emerson. Walker Evans, Paul Strand and Gus Wylie. David Matless is Professor of Cultural Geography at Nottingham University, UK.

Writer Will Self contributes a personal commentary on his own parallel life and travel experiences.

About the artist

Richard Denyer (1950-2015) lived in rural Norfolk.  Throughout his career, he  investigated relationships between land and water. This fascination began with photographic commissions for the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Authority in the 1980s.

He spent many years teaching photographic practice, history and theory at Norwich University of the Arts. In 2003 he established an MA in photographic practice there. Ever the entrepreneur, he went on to become their Business Development Manager. He left in 2010 to pursue his own projects. His death in the year of publication of this book was sudden and unexpected.