This publication reproduces Richard Billingham’s Ray’s a Laugh spread by spread. Made in the cramped Birmingham high-rise apartment where Billingham grew up, the photographs portray his father, Ray, an unemployed chronic alcoholic, and his mother, Liz, surrounded by porcelain dolls, jigsaw puzzles, cats, and dogs. The raw, intimate images contrast with conventional family photography and often carry uncomfortable humor. First published in 2000, the book is accompanied here by a contemporary essay by Charlotte Cotton.
