Paul Reas (born 1955) is a British social documentary photographer and

university lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

. He is best known for photographing consumerism in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. Reas has produced the books ''I Can Help'' (1988), ''Flogging a Dead Horse: Heritage Culture and Its Role in Post-industrial Britain'' (1993) and ''Fables of Faubus'' (2018). He has had solo exhibitions at

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

and

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

, London;

Cornerhouse Cornerhouse was a cinema and contemporary visual arts centre next to Oxford Road Station on Oxford Street, Manchester, England, from 1985 to 2015. It had three floors of art galleries, three cinemas, a bookshop, bar and café. Cornerhouse was ...

, Manchester; and

Impressions Gallery Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in Bradford, England. It was established in 1972 and located in York until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own ...

, Bradford. His work is held in the collection of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Life and work

Reas grew up in a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family on the

Buttershaw Buttershaw is a residential area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded by Horton Bank Top to the north, Wibsey to the east, Woodside to the south and Shelf to the west. Buttershaw consists mostly of 1940s council housing with t ...

council estate in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. He was born and lived with four siblings in a house on Brafferton Arbor (since demolished) and was mostly raised by his mother, who also worked at

Baird Television Ltd. John Logie Baird (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical Mechanical television, television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the fi ...

assembling televisions, or as a cleaner.

Val Williams Val Williams is a British curator and author who has become an authority on British photography. She is the Professor of the History and Culture of Photography at the London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London, an ...

, Carol Brown and Brigitte Lardinois, eds, ''Who's Looking at the Family?'' (London: Barbican Art Gallery, 1994), pp. 38–39. (He would later remember his father as "Only ever there on Sundays and even then a sleeping, silent figure in an armchair.") He left Buttershaw Comprehensive aged fifteen and spent five years as an apprentice

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson and tradesperson who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of maso ...

with the firm of Roy W Parkin in Clayton. He left Bradford to study documentary photography at the

University of Wales, Newport The University of Wales, Newport (), was a public university based in Newport, Wales, Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was founded as a mechanics' institute in 1841 ...

from 1982 to 1984.

David Hurn David Hurn (born 1934) is a Welsh documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos, who lives in South Wales. Early life and education Hurn was born in 1934 in Redhill, Surrey, England. He is of Welsh descent and was raised in Cardiff, Wale ...

was course head and among his tutors were

Daniel Meadows Daniel Meadows (born 1952) is an English photographer turned maker of digital stories, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media. Life and career as photographer Meadows was born in Great Washbourne, Gloucestershire, " ...

John Benton-Harris John Benton-Harris (September 28, 1939 – August 26, 2023) was an American photographer and educator who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. Life and work John Benton-Harris was born in The Bronx, New York City on September 28, 1939. He work ...

and

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in p ...

. After six years as an undergraduate and then a college photography technician, he became a freelance photographer. Paul Reas 2019

Impressed first by Parr's photography of

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Upper Calder Valley, west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden W ...

and the work of the Exit group (

Chris Steele-Perkins Christopher Horace Steele-Perkins (born 28 July 1947) is a British photographer and member of Magnum Photos, best known for his depictions of Africa, Afghanistan, England, Northern Ireland, and Japan. Life and career Steele-Perkins was born in R ...

, Paul Trevor and Nicholas Battye) in ''Survival Programmes'',

, "Elegies revisited: Photographs by Paul Reas 1985–1993", in Paul Reas and Stuart Cosgrave, ''Flogging a Dead Horse: Heritage Culture and Its Role in Post-Industrial Britain'' (Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1993). Reas began with humanistic,

fly on the wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...

, documentary photography in black-and-white using a 35 mm camera. He photographed working people, taking inspiration from both August Sander and Lee Friedlander's portrayal of working people, that he considered gave them the grace and dignity he experienced working in industry.As seen in Sander's ''People of the 20th Century'' series and Friedlander's ''Lee Friedlander at Work'' (2002). Reas in particular cites Sander's photograph of a hod carrier (a bricklayer) from 1928. He soon moved into more subjective photography and in colour. He was aware of the colour photography of Paul Graham and Martin Parr, Charlie Meecham and Bob Phillips, but it was seeing the work of North American colour photographers

William Eggleston William Eggleston, (born July 27, 1939) is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition of color photography as a legitimate artistic medium. Eggleston's books include ''William Eggleston's Guide'' (1976) and ''The ...

Joel Sternfeld Joel Sternfeld (born June 30, 1944) is an American artist using photography, as well as an educator and writer. He is known for his large-format color photography of contemporary American life. His work contributed to the establishment of color ph ...

Stephen Shore Stephen Shore (born October 8, 1947) is an American photographer known for his images of scenes and objects of the banal, and for his pioneering use of color in art photography. His books include ''Uncommon Places'' (1982) and ''American Surfaces ...

and

Joel Meyerowitz Joel Meyerowitz (born March 6, 1938) is an American street, portrait and landscape photographer. He began photographing in color in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of color during a time when there was significant resistance to the ide ...

that convinced him to change to colour for his own work and put him into an influential group of British colour documentarists including Graham and Anna Fox. He changed to a larger format camera, which allowed smaller details to be easily read and understood, not requiring the bold graphic statements he considered necessary with 35 mm; and to using a

flashgun A flash is a device used in photography that produces a brief burst of light (lasting around of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 Kelvin, K to help illuminate a scene. The main purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Ot ...

. As influences and inspirations, Reas has also cited

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

and

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

, and

northern soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

. In 1985 he and Ron McCormick were the first photographers commissioned by

Ffotogallery Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography in Wales. It was established in 1978 and since June 2019 has been based in Cathays, Cardiff. It also commissions touring exhibitions nationally and internationally. Its current dire ...

in Wales as part of its ''Valleys Project'' to each produce a body of work which "focussed on the changing topographic landscape and the partial introduction of new technology into a latter day industrial wasteland". Other photographers commissioned were

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Bailey has also directed several televisio ...

, Mike Berry, John Davies,

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

, Francesca Odell, Roger Tiley and William Tsui.A resource on the Valleys Project is availabl
here
(PDF) within Ffotogallery's website. Reas's first book, ''I Can Help,'' shows supermarkets, superstores and the like, photographed from 1985 to 1988.

writes that "The people who Reas photographed emerged from its pages . . . as lost souls, modern Ancient Mariners adrift in an ocean of endless choices." The photographs (1989–1993) in his second book, ''Flogging a Dead Horse'', "explored the rise of the heritage business, taking issue with what he judged to be the cynical re-writing of the past of British working people by the leisure industry"; they are "edgy, viciously satirical comments on our appetite for vicarious experience." Reas worked commercially as an editorial photographer for ''

The Sunday Times Magazine ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' is a magazine included with ''The Sunday Times''. In 1962 it became the first colour supplement to be published as a supplement to a UK newspaper, and its arrival "broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing". ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. For a period he worked as an advertising photographer for clients such as BT and Volkswagen. He taught at the Faculty of Arts,

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based in Brighton on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieved university status in 1992. T ...

, from 1993 to 1998. He is course leader of

documentary photography Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional ph ...

at the University of Wales, Newport. In 2011/2012 Reas completed ''From a Distance'', a year-long commission on the regeneration of the

Elephant and Castle Elephant and Castle is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station of the same name. The n ...

in South London, part of ''The Elephant Vanishes'' project, directed by Patrick Sutherland, for London College of Communication. He photographed people candidly, showing fraught and tense emotions (with the aid of an assistant with a boom mounted flashgun); portraits; cans of incense intended to provide help under specific social pressures; and discarded furniture. The photographs were exhibited in 2012 and published by

Photography and the Archive Research Centre Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC) is a defunct organisation in London that commissioned new research into photography and culture, curated and produced exhibitions and publications, organised seminars, study days, symposia and co ...

(PARC) in ''Fieldstudy 16: From a Distance''.''Fieldstudy 16'' is availabl
here
(PDF) within the UAL Research Online website. Reas has said of his work that "I would say I photograph people but I think the pictures are more about systems people find themselves in, people shopping in supermarkets, but it’s about consumerism and how we are caught up in that. I never set anything up. Everything I photograph is as it happens". As well as consumerism, Reas has also been concerned with politics, Americanisation, the heritage industry, gender politics and how northern working-class people are historically represented. His work is usually biographical. In 1993, Reas began a series, ''Portrait of an Invisible Man,'' that examined the mystery of his distant and mostly absent father "by photographing the microcosm which a child observes in the macrocosm of home". The curators of an exhibition at the Barbican wrote of this series: "Paul Reas's meticulously constructed descriptions of domestic life may perhaps exorcise demons, the ghouls and goblins which inhabit a child's imagination; they are photography as remedy, as exhumation and a personal adventure on a grand scale." Williams writes that Reas's work of the early 1990s "assume a documentary stance, but they are essentially polemical." Robert Clark writes in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'':

Reas has an eye for themes that reveal a prevailing air of social disillusionment and cultural vacuity. As traditional industry disappears, we see the emergence of assembly-line technologies. The architectural identity of towns dissolve to make way for out-of-town shopping malls. Heritage-industry theme parks indulge in a politically dubious nostalgia as the London property boom explodes. On the face of it it’s unrelentingly grim. Yet Reas populates such scenes with real characters, replete with poker-faced humour and shrugging defiance."

Publications

Publications by Reas

* ''I Can Help.'' Manchester:

, 1988. . With a foreword by Rod Jones and a text ("Hey big spender") by

Stuart Cosgrove Stuart John Francis Cosgrove (born 12 November 1952) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and television executive. As a journalist, Cosgrove served on the ''NME'' (as media editor) and '' The Face'' during the 1980s, before joining Channel 4 i ...

. * ''Flogging a Dead Horse: Heritage Culture and Its Role in Post-industrial Britain.'' Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1993. . With text by

and an afterword by

. *''Fables of Faubus.'' London: Gost, 2018. . With essays by Stuart Cosgrove, David Chandler,

Ken Grant Ken Grant is a photographer who since the 1980s has concentrated on working class life in the Liverpool area. He is a lecturer in the MFA photography course at the University of Ulster. Life and career Born in Liverpool in 1967,Sean O'Hagan,For ...

and Val Williams.

Publications with contributions by Reas

* ''Pivot: Sixteen Artists Using Photography in Wales and Philadelphia.'' Llandudno, Wales:

Oriel Mostyn Mostyn is a public art gallery in Llandudno, North Wales. It was previously called Oriel Mostyn ('Oriel' is Welsh for 'Gallery') but was rebranded as simply Mostyn following its 2010 revamp. Background The roots of the gallery started with a Mis ...

, 1991. . By Chris Colclough. Catalogue of an exhibition held in Wales and Philadelphia, 15 June – 14 September 1991. Photographs by S Packer, Helen Sear, Paul Reas, Alistair Crawford, C. Colclough, Peter Finnemore, Suzanne Greenslade,

Keith Arnatt Keith Arnatt (1930–2008) was a British conceptual artist. As well as conceptual art his work is sometimes discussed in relation to land art, minimalism, and photography. He lived and worked in London, Liverpool, Yorkshire and Monmouthshire. Lif ...

and others. Texts by Paula Marincola and Susan Beardmore in English and Welsh. * ''Positive Lives: Responses to HIV.'' London: Network Photographers; Cassell, 1993. . Part of the Cassell AIDS Awareness Series. Edited by Stephen Mayes and Lyndall Stein. Reas contributes photographs for a chapter, "Rupert - A Life Story". Also includes photographic essays from Denis Doran, John Sturrock, Mike Abrahams, Mike Goldwater, Judah Passow,

Mark Power Mark Power (born 1959) is a British photographer. He is a member of Magnum Photos and Professor of Photography in The Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the University of Brighton.Steve Pyke Steve Pyke MBE (born 1957) is a British photographer living in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Paul Lowe Paul Edward Lowe (born September 27, 1936) is an American former professional football player who was a halfback in the American Football League (AFL), primarily with the Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers. A four-time All-AFL selection and two ...

and Gideon Mendel. Foreword by

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (January 13, 1940 – June 3, 2025) was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with ra ...

. Introduction by Stephen Mayes. Each chapter also includes a written essay. * ''Who's Looking at the Family?'' London: Barbican Art Gallery, 1994. Edited by Val Williams, Carol Brown and Brigitte Lardinois. . Accompanying an exhibition. * ''Documentary Dilemmas: Aspects of British Documentary Photography, 1983–1993.'' London: British Council, 1994. . Catalogue of the exhibition, edited by Brett Rogers. * ''The House in the Middle; Photographs of Interior Design in the Nuclear Age.'' Brighton:

Photoworks Photoworks is a UK development agency dedicated to photography, based in Brighton and Hove, Brighton, England and founded in 1995.

, 2004, . Accompanied an exhibition; also with work by

Anne Hardy Anne Hardy (born 1970) is a British artist. Her art practice spans photography, sculptural installation and audio. She completed an MA in photography at the Royal College of Art in 2000, having graduated from Cheltenham School of Art in 1993 w ...

, Danny Treacy, Dirk Wackerfuss, Jo Broughton, John Kippin,

Richard Billingham Richard Billingham (born 25 September 1970) is an English photographer and artist, film maker and art teacher. His work has mostly concerned his family, the place he grew up in the West Midlands, but also landscapes elsewhere. Billingham is bes ...

, and others. * ''From Talbot to Fox. 150 Years of British Social Photography.'' London: James Hyman, 2012. Edition of 50. An overview of British social photography published to accompany an exhibition by James Hyman Photography at The AIPAD Photography Show New York in 2011. Includes photographs by

William Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the Salt print, salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th ...

David Octavius Hill David Octavius Hill (20 May 1802 – 17 May 1870) was a Scottish painter, photographer and arts activist. He formed Hill & Adamson studio with the engineer and photographer Robert Adamson between 1843 and 1847 to pioneer many aspects of p ...

& Robert Adamson,

Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an arts degree, he became interested i ...

Horatio Ross Horatio Ross (5 September 1801 – 6 December 1886) was a sportsman and a early photography, pioneer amateur photographer. Background and early life Ross was born at Rossie Castle, near Montrose, Angus on 5 September 1801, the son of Hercules ...

Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron (; 11 June 1815 – 26 January 1879) was an English photographer who is considered one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century. She is known for her Soft focus, soft-focus close-ups of famous Victorian era, ...

Thomas Annan Thomas Annan (1829–1887) was a Scottish photographer, notable for being the first to record the bad housing conditions of the poor. Biography Born in Dairsie, Fife, he was one of seven children of John Annan, a flax spinner. Career Afte ...

Bill Brandt Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt ; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalism, photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his ...

Bert Hardy Albert William Thomas Hardy (19 May 1913 – 3 July 1995) was an English documentary and press photographer known for his work published in the ''Picture Post'' magazine between 1941 and 1957. Life and work Born in Blackfriars, Bert Hardy rose ...

Roger Mayne Roger Mayne (5 May 1929 – 7 June 2014) was an English photographer, best known for his documentation of the children of Southam Street, London. Life and work Born in Cambridge, Mayne studied Chemistry at Balliol College, Oxford University. Her ...

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...

Caroline Coon Caroline Mary Thompson Coon (born 23 March, 1945) is an English artist known for her paintings, her feminist political activism, her writing and photography. After coming to prominence first as a leader of the UK underground, British Undergroun ...

, Paul Reas,

Jem Southam Jem Southam (born 1950) is a British landscape photographer and educator. He has had solo exhibitions at Tate St Ives, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Lowry, and the Royal West of England Academy. Southam's work is held in the collections o ...

, Ken Grant,

Karen Knorr Karen Knorr HonFRPS (born 1954) is a German-born American photographer who lives in London. In 2018 she received an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society. Her work is held in the collection at Tate, London. Early life and educati ...

, Anna Fox and others.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 1988: ''I Can Help''.

Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

, London; Olympus Gallery, Amsterdam.Potted biography of Reas; in

Gerry Badger Gerald David "Gerry" Badger (born 1946) is an English writer and curator of photography, and a photographer. In 2018, he received the J Dudley Johnston Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Life and career Badger was born in 1946 in North ...

and John Benton-Harris (eds), ''Through the looking glass: Photographic art in Britain 1945–1989'' (London: Barbican Art Gallery, 1989; ), p.194.Potted biography of Reas; in Val Williams, Carol Brown and Brigitte Lardinois, eds, ''Who's Looking at the Family?'' (London: Barbican Art Gallery, 1994), p. 120. Stills Gallery, Edinburgh.Paul Reas
, ''Photographie'' . Accessed 30 April 2014. * 1988: Fotobienal,

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

. * 1993: ''Flogging a Dead Horse: Paul Reas.'' Photographers' Gallery, London;

, Manchester; and tour. * 2012: ''From a Distance''. The Gallery,

, 12–25 October 2012. Photographs of the

, made as part of the project ''The Elephant Vanishes''. * 2013/2014: ''“Day Dreaming about the Good Times?”,'' December 2013–March 2014, Impressions Gallery, Bradford. March–May 2014,

, Penarth, Wales. A retrospective of his personal, editorial and advertising work.

Joint exhibitions

* 1985: ''Image and Exploration: Some Directions in British Photography 1980–85.''

, London. With Chris Belcher, Chris Colclough, Berris Conolly, Mary Cooper, Peter Gale, Damian Gillie, Helen Harris, Paul Highnam, Sarah Morley, Paul Reas, Christopher Taylor and Mark Warne. * 1985: ''The Globe: Representing the World.'' Photographers' Gallery, London. With E. Christo, Dwina Fitzpatrick,

Brian Griffin Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is one of the main characters of the series and a member of the Griffin family. Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthrop ...

Peter Kennard Peter Kennard (born 17 February 1949) is a London-born and based photomontage artist and Professor of Political Art at the Royal College of Art. Seeking to reflect his involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement, he turned from painting to phot ...

, Paul Reas,

Rodchenko Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (; – 3 December 1956) was a Russian and Soviet artist, sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design; he was married to the artist Varvara Step ...

Sebastião Salgado Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior (8 February 1944 – 23 May 2025) was a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist. He traveled in more than 120 countries for his photographic projects, which appeared in numerous press p ...

, Susan Trangmar and Boyd Webb. * 1987–1988: ''Young European Photographers.''

Frankfurter Kunstverein The Frankfurter Kunstverein e. V. in Frankfurt am Main is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art and culture. It is one of the oldest German art associations. History The Frankfurter Kunstverein was founded in ...

, Frankfurt; Galerie Faber, Vienna. * 1988: ''Critical Realism.''

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a prog ...

, London. * 1988: ''The New Generation.'' Fotobienal,

, Spain. * 1989: ''Condemned to Making Sense.'' Perspektief Gallery, Rotterdam. * 1989: ''Through the Looking Glass.''

Barbican Art Gallery The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and ...

, London.Potted biography of Reas, p.219 of Val Williams and

Susan Bright Susan Bright is a British writer and curator of photography, specializing in how photography is made, disseminated and interpreted. She has curated exhibitions internationally at institutions including Tate Britain, National Portrait Gallery in L ...

, ''How We Are: Photographing Britain from the 1840s to the Present'' (London: Tate Publishing, 2007; ). * 1989: ''Image and Exploration.'' The Photographers' Gallery, London * 1989: ''Valleys Project.'' Galerie im Lichthof, Stuttgart * 1990: Fotobienale,

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

, Netherlands. * 1990: ''Vigovisións.'' Fotobienal, Vigo, Spain. * 1990: ''Heritage Image and History.''

, Manchester. * 1991: ''Pivot: Sixteen Artists Using Photography in Wales and Philadelphia'', Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, UK. * 1992: Rencontres d'Arles,

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

, France. * 1992: ''ICI Awards'',

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

, London, and tour. * 1993: ''A Positive View.''

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the ...

, London * 1993: ''Positive Lives: Responses to HIV.'' Photographers' Gallery, London, and tour. With Mike Abrahams, Denis Doran, Mike Goldwater,

Fergus Greer Fergus James MacGregor Greer (born 8 May 1961) is a British-Irish internationally renowned photographer and psychotherapist, known for his strong visual and emotional resonance in his large body of work. He served as an officer in the Irish Guard ...

, Mark Fower, Barry Lewis, Paul Lowe, Jenny Matthews, Gideon Mendel, Judah Passow, Chris Pillitz, Mark Power,

Steve Pyke Steve Pyke MBE (born 1957) is a British photographer living in New Orleans, Louisiana.
* 1993–1996: ''Documentary Dilemmas.''

. 80 works by 13 artists selected by Brett Rogers. Included work by John Davies, Anna Fox, Julian Germain, Paul Graham, Tommy Harris, Anthony Haughey,

Chris Killip Christopher David Killip (11 July 1946 – 13 October 2020) was a Manx people, Manx photographer who worked at Harvard University from 1991 to 2017, as a Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies. Killip is known for his black and white imag ...

, John Kippin, Karen Knorr,

, Paul Reas,

Paul Seawright Paul Seawright (born 1965) is a Northern Irish artist. He is the professor of photography and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (previously Executive Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Belfast School of Art) at Ulster University in Belf ...

and Jem Southam. Toured internationally. * 1994: ''Who's Looking at the Family?'' Barbican Art Gallery, London. Reas exhibited ''Portrait of an Invisible Man.'' * 1995: ''Foto International.'' Foto Institute, Rotterdam * 1998: ''Rencontres d’Arles.'' Arles, France * 2001: ''Memorias da Cidade.''

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

, Portugal * 2004: Hirschl Gallery. London * 2004: ''A Gentle Madness.''

National Museum of Photography, Film and Television National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Bradford. * 2004: ''The House in the Middle.'' Towner Art Gallery,

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

. * 2006: ''From Brighton'', Diaphane Editions, Montreuil sur Brèche, France. Work from photographers living in Brighton: Jim Cooke, Nigel Green, Marcus Haydock, Stephen Hughes, Magali Nougarède and Paul Reas. * 2006: ''Memórias da cidade'', Encontros da Imagem. D. Diogo de Sousa Museum, Braga, Portugal. Exhibition by 30 artists. * 2007: ''How We Are: Photographing Britain.''

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

. Included contributions from numerous photographers. *2008/2009: ''ParrWorld'', touring exhibition,

Haus der Kunst The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a museum for modern and contemporary art in Munich, Bavaria. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park. It was built between 1933 an ...

, Munich, 2008; Breda Design Museum, The Netherlands, 2008; Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, 2009; Baltic, Gateshead, UK, 2009. *2010: ''Nothing is in the place.'' Photographs of the 1990s by AVI, Anonymous (Value Action), Donald Christie, Vicki Churchill, Brett Dee, Nigel Dickinson, Chris Dyer, Jason Evans, Anna Fox,

, Nick Knight, Mark Lally, Clive Landen, Gordon MacDonald,

, Vinca Petersen,

Mark Power Mark Power (born 1959) is a British photographer. He is a member of Magnum Photos and Professor of Photography in The Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the University of Brighton.Paul Seawright Paul Seawright (born 1965) is a Northern Irish artist. He is the professor of photography and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (previously Executive Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Belfast School of Art) at Ulster University in Belf ...

Nigel Shafran Nigel Shafran (born 1964) is a photographerLiz Jobey,Photographer Nigel Shafran: domestic harmony" The Guardian, 23 October 2008. and artist. His work has been exhibited at Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the 1980s Shafran worked as ...

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German Fine-art photography, photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillman ...

Nick Waplington Nick Waplington (born 1965) is a British / American artist and photographer. Many books of Waplington's work have been published, both self-published and through Aperture, Cornerhouse, Mack, Phaidon, and Trolley. His work has been shown in sol ...

, Jack Webb, Tom Wood, and Dan Wootton; curated by Jason Evans. Gallery of Contemporary Art Bunkier Sztuki, Photomonth in Kraków, 2010; part of ''Fringe Focus,'' The Old Co-Op Building, Brighton, during

Brighton Photo Biennial Brighton Photo Biennial (BPB), now known as Photoworks Festival, is a month-long festival of photography in Brighton, England, produced by Photoworks. The festival began in 2003 and is often held in October. It plays host to curated exhibitions ...

, 2010. * 2013: ''Da Memória'', part of ''Memórias da cidade'', Festival da Criatividade GNRation ON, Braga, Portugal. Exhibition by Antoine D'Agata, Céu Guarda, Frédéric Bellay, Jim Dow, Luc Choquer, Luísa Ferreira, Luís Palma, Mariana Viegas, Martin Parr, Paul Reas, Paulo Catrica, and Vari Caramés.

Awards

* 1999: Silver Award, The OK! Magazine Award - Best Use of Photography, Campaign Press Advertising Awards 1999, for ''Wedding'' (Volkswagen advertisement for which Reas was the photographer). One of three adverts in a Volkswagen campaign. ''Wedding'' and the campaign itself also won other awards in the same ceremony. * 1999: Yellow Pencil,

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. ...

for ''Wedding'' (Volkswagen advertisement). * 2004: Bronze, Best Portrait Poster category, 2004

Creative Circle The Creative Circle (also known as The Advertising Creative Circle or The Advertising Creative Circle of Great Britain) is an educational awards body dedicated to creativity in British advertising, and the oldest advertising and marketing awards ...

Awards, for an advertisement for Tesco Metro for which he was photographer.

Collections

Reas's work is held in the following public collection: *

Notes

References

External links

*
Reas at James Hyman

Paul Reas talking about himself
(8 m video)
'Paul Reas Impressions Gallery Talk'
- Reas discusses his life's work in detail (1 hr 36 m audio with photographs) {{DEFAULTSORT:Reas, Paul Photographers from Yorkshire Social documentary photographers British documentary photographers Living people People from Bradford 1955 births Academics of the University of Wales, Newport Academics of the University of Brighton Alumni of the University of Wales, Newport Photography academics 20th-century British photographers 21st-century British photographers