Ray's a Laugh
Richard Billingham

First published in 1996 to enormous acclaim, Richard Billingham’s Ray’s a Laugh is one of the most significant photobooks of the turn of the twentieth century, as well as a cornerstone work of the Young British Artists generation. Formed of starkly intimate images of Billingham’s often chaotic parental home under the heavy effects of alcoholism and poverty, the book was produced in the 1990s with editors Michael Collins and Julian Germain. This new edition restores Billingham’s original vision for his deeply personal work for the first time. Including numerous unseen images and a distinct approach to sequencing inflected by Billingham’s training as a painter: it constitutes a ‘director’s cut’ and reintroduces a vital and consistently challenging work for a new era.

The publication of this new edition is accompanied by Ray’s a Laugh: A Reader, edited by Liz Jobey, which traces the book’s compelling history from Billingham’s ‘discovery’ at Sunderland University, through his Turner Prize nomination, to the present reworked edition. Purchase both books together via the drop-down menu, or purchase Ray's a Laugh: A Reader separately here.

Special Edition available here

Embossed linen hardcover
23.4 x 31cm, 320 pages

ISBN 978-1-915743-32-9
February 2024
€75 £60 $80

ABOUT THE SIGNED EDITION

The signed edition includes a slip signed by the artist and glued into the inside back cover.