Printing ‘Peter Fraser’, Tate Monograph, at Castelli Bolis, Bergamo, Italy, 2012
Born 1953 Cardiff, Wales, Peter Fraser attended schools in Cardiff, Glamorgan and the Rhondda Valley. He acquired his first camera at the age of 7, and after a false start studying Civil Engineering, at 18, began studying photography at Manchester Polytechnic the following year. In the summer of 1974 he lived in New York and worked at the Laurel Photography Bookstore at 32nd St and 6th Avenue which significantly expanded his sense of photography’s expressive possibilities. He graduated in 1976 after repeating his 3rd year due to major illness crossing the Sahara, while photographing in West Africa.
Fraser lived in Holland and Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, before moving back to Manchester in 1981. He then began working with a Plaubel Makina camera in 1982 which led to an exhibition with William Eggleston at the Anolfini, Bristol in 1984, and a move to that city. In summer 1984 Fraser travelled to Memphis, USA to spend nearly two months with William Eggleston which confirmed for him the desire to commit his life to working with colour photography.’
He then worked on several series of photographs, leading to a first publication, Two Blue Buckets (which featured work from, 12 Day Journey, The Valleys Project, Everyday Icons and Towards and Absolute Zero) which won the Bill Brandt Prize in London (the precursor of the CitiBank International Photography Prize), in 1988.
He moved to London in 1990, subsequently publishing several new bodies of work, including Ice and Water 1993, Deep Blue 1997, Material 2002, and Peter Fraser (Nazraeli Press) 2006.
In 2002, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, staged a 20 year survey exhibition of Fraser’s work, and he was shortlisted for the Citigroup International Photography Prize in 2004. In 2006 he was invited to be an Artist in Residence at Oxford University, England and produced new work for permanent installation in their new Biochemistry building in 2008.
In 2009 Fraser was given a major commission by The Ffotogallery, Wales, to return to his country of birth, to make new work for a solo exhibition at the gallery, which opened in March 2010, with a new publication, Lost For Words.
In 2008 Fraser began working on A City In The Mind a new series of photographs in London, which was shown at Brancolini Grimaldi Gallery, London in May 2012 accompanied by a Steidl Publication.
From January to May 2013, Tate St Ives held a retrospective of Fraser’s career, the first Tate Retrospective for a living British Photographer working in colour, and Tate published a major monograph on the whole of Fraser’s career with a text by David Chandler. Tate purchased 10 works for their permanent collection from the Two Blue Buckets series in 2014.
In 2014 Fraser was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Photographic Society, UK.
In spring 2017 Peperoni Books, Berlin, published a new ‘Director’s Cut’ of Fraser’s 1988 publication Two Blue Buckets with 19 missing images from the original, and a new essay by Gerry Badger and a discussion between Fraser and David Campany.
From 1st June to 31st July 2017 Fraser’s exhibition Mathematics was exhibited at the Real Jardin de Botanico, Madrid, part of PhotoEspana 17 and Skinnerboox, Italy, published Mathematics with 52 colour plates, and essays by Mark Durden, David Campany and an afterword by Fraser.
The first UK exhibition of Mathematics opened at Camden Arts Centre, London on the 5th July, and ran to 16th September 2018. The accompanying File Note no 120 published by the gallery, featured a specially commissioned essay The Things That Count by Amy Sherlock, Deputy Editor of Frieze.
In March 2021 Fraser received a Pollock Krasner Foundation Award, NY, to support the production of new work in the UK and across Europe in the time of Covid-19 ‘paying subtle attention to atmosphere and nuance, quietly reflecting on manifestations of our responses to the enormous changes taking place across the human landscape’.
| One-person Exhibitions | |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Whatness, curated by Die Plek, CBR building, Boitsfort, Brussels |
| 2018 | Mathematics, Camden Arts Centre, London. |
| 2017 | Mathematics, Real Jardin Botanico de Madrid, PhotoEspana |
| 2013 | Peter Fraser, Tate St Ives. |
| 2012 | A City in the Mind, Brancolini Grimaldi, London. |
| 2010 | Lost for Words, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales. |
| 2003 | The Inconsiderable Things, University of Brighton Gallery, England. |
| 2002 | Peter Fraser, The Photographers’ Gallery, London. |
| 1999 | Peter Fraser, Gallerie 213, Paris, France. |
| 1997-1998 | Deep Blue, Viewpoint Gallery, Salford; Ffotogallery, Cardiff; Cambridge Darkroom, Tullie House, Carlisle. |
| 1996 | Deep Blue, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. |
| 1995 | Ice and Water, St Louis Museum of Art, Missouri, USA. |
| 1994 | Ice and Water, James Hockey Gallery, Farnham, England. |
| 1993 | Ice and Water, Cornerhouse, Manchester, England. |
| 1989 | Triptychs, Interim Art, London, England. |
| 1988 | Towards an Absolute Zero, Watershed, Bristol, England; Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth, England; Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales. |
| 1987 | Spectrum Galerie, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany. |
| 1986 | Everyday Icons, Photographers Gallery, London; Photo Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki; toured the United Kingdom. |
| 1985 | 12 Day Journey, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, England; Axiom, Cheltenham, England. |
| 1984 | New Colour, Oldham Art Gallery, Oldham, England; Arnolfini, Bristol, England. |
| 1983 | New Colour, The Photographer’s Corridor, University of Wales, Cardiff. |
| 1982 | The Flower Bridge, Impressions Gallery, York, England. |
| Selected Group Exhibitions | |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 'The Photographic I - Other Pictures', S.M.A.K. Museum of Contemporary Art, Gent, Belgium. |
| 2016 | 'Transiciones', works from the 'Motelay Collection', Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid. 'Night in the Museum', curated by Ryan Gander, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK, travelling to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and The Attenborough Centre, Leicester. |
| 2015 | 'Industry Now- Contemporary Photography from the Collection', MAST FOUNDATION, Bologna, Italy |
| 2014 | 'Industrial Worlds 014', MAST FOUNDATION, Bologna, Italy |
| 2013 | 'Industrial Worlds 013', MAST FOUNDATION, Bologna, Italy |
| 2012 | 'Observers: Photographers of the British Scene from the 1930's to Now', British Council Exhibition, SESI-SP, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 'Island Stories: Fifty Years of Photography in Britain', Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 'Intersections-Science in Contemporary Art', Weitzmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv. |
| 2008 | ‘Troubled Waters’, 12 Still Lives from the Siemens Photography Collection, Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany, 'No Such Thing As Society’, Photography in Britain 1967-1987, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales, Tulie House, Carlisle, and Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujadowski Castle, Warsaw ‘I Hate Green’, Ffotogallery Commissions in Wales – Part 1, Turner House Gallery, Penarth, Wales. |
| 2006 | Patrick de Brock, gallery artists show, Knokke, Belgium. |
| 2005 | ‘Funky Lessons’, BAWAG Foundation, Vienna, Austria, |
| 2004 | Citigroup Photography Prize 2004, Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf, Germany. Citigroup Photography Prize 2004, The Photographers’ Gallery, London. |
| 2003 | 'Jede Fotografie ein Bild', Seimens Collection, Pinokothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany. |
| 2001 | 'Nothing', Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, travelling to the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, and the Rooseum, Malmo, Sweden. |
| 1998 | Summer Show, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. |
| 1994 | 'Institute of Cultural Anxiety: Works from the Collection', ICA, London. |
| 1993 | Patrick de Brock, Antwerp, Belgium. |
| 1992 | 'Mehr Als Ein Bild', Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany. |
| 1991 | Pamela Golden, Marcus Hansen, Peter Fraser, Interim Art, London. Curt Marcus Invitational, Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, USA. |
| 1990 | Interim Art, London. |
| 1989 | Foto Biennale Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, Holland. Through The Looking Glass, Barbican Art Gallery, London. Photo-Sculpture, Watershed, Bristol, England. Recent Acquisitions, Hayward Gallery, London |
| 1988 | 'A British View', Museum for Gestaltung, Zurich. 'Towards a Bigger Picture', Victoria and Albert Museum, London. |
| 1987 | 'Inscriptions and Incidents', A British Council Exhibition, P.R.O.K.A, Ghent, Belgium, toured to Luxembourg, Italy and Germany. Sun Life Photography Awards, National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, England. |
| 1986 | 'I Hate Green', The Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales. 'New British Documentary', Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 'The Animal Show', Photographers Gallery, London. '50 Years of Modern Colour Photography', Photokina, Cologne, Germany. |
| 1985 | 'A Sense of Place', Interim Art, London. 'Image and Exploration', Photographers Gallery, London. 'Axiom Review', Axiom, Cheltenham, England. 'Young European Photographers', Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany. |
| Selected Catalogues and Publications | |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 'Two Blue Buckets', 'Directors Cut', Peperoni Press, Germany. 'Mathematics', published by Skinnerboox, Italy. |
| 2016 | 'Mathematics', self published Limited Edition Digital book, London. |
| 2013 | ‘Peter Fraser’, Full career Monograph, Tate Publishing, London UK. |
| 2012 | ‘A City in the Mind’, published by Steidl/ Brancolini Grimaldi. |
| 2010 | ‘Lost for Words’, book published by Ffotogallery, Cardiff. |
| 2006 | ‘Peter Fraser’, book published by Nazraeli Press, USA ‘Vitamin Ph: New Perspectives in Photography’, Phaidon, London. |
| 2004 | ‘Citigroup International Photography Prize’, catalogue published by The Photographers’ Gallery, London. |
| 2002 | ‘Material’, book published by Steidl Verlag, Germany. |
| 2002 | ‘PETER FRASER’, book published by the Photographers’ Gallery, supported by the Arts Council of England. |
| 2001 | ‘Nothing’, book published by August and Northern Gallery For Contemporary Art, Sunderland, England. |
| 1999 | ‘Peter Fraser’, Galerie 213 exhibition catalogue, published by Galerie 213, Paris. |
| 1997 | ‘Deep Blue’, published by Viewpoint Photography Gallery, Salford; Ffotogallery, Cardiff; Tulli House, Carlisle; and Cambridge Darkroom Gallery, England. |
| 1995 | ‘Currents 63’, Ice and Water exhibition brochure published by St. Louis Art Museum, text by Olivia Lahs-Gonzales. |
| 1993 | ‘An Uncertain Exchange’, Jeremy Millar, for Ice and Water catalogue published by James Hockey Gallery, Farnham and Cornerhouse, Manchester, England. |
| 1988 | ‘Towards an Absolute Zero’, Rupert Martin, catalogue published by Zero Press, Bristol. ‘Two Blue Buckets’, Rupert Martin, published by Cornerhouse, Manchester. |
| Select Bibliography | |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Tim Clark, 'Walls come tumbling down', British Journal of Photography, September 2019, pp. 89-92 Thomas Peeters, 'Stillevens op de directieverdieping', De Tijd, Brussels, pp. 53 Heleen Rodiers, 'The meaning of life, according to Peter Fraser', Bruzz Magazine, Brussels, 13-19 September 2019, pp. 14-15 Guy Duplat, 'Expo au 7th cel, dans l'iconique batiment CBR', La Libre Belgique, pp.45 |
| 2018 | Amy Sherlock, 'The Things That Count', Camden Arts Centre, London, File Notes, no 120. Patrick Langley, 'Mathematics', Camden Arts Centre, ArtReview Magazine, October 2018, pp. 99 |
| 2017 | Sean O'Hagan, 'Everyday Revelations', Observer Newspaper, London,The New Review, 2nd April 2017, pp. 38 Marina Spunta, 'The Unseen Places', Financial Times Weekend Magazine, 6th May 2017, pp. 26-30 Minus Plato, 'You're really not going to like it: Peter Fraser's "Mathematics" for the Impatient', Blog on 2nd June 2017 http://minusplato.com/2017/06/youre-really-not-going-to-like-it-peter-frasers-mathematics-for-the-impatient.html#comment-1218 Snapshot: 'Mathematics' by Peter Fraser, Photography, Financial Times, 2nd June 2017 Gloria Crespo MacLennan, 'Mathematics is the code that envelopes everything', El Pais, Madrid, 22 June 2017, online at http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2017/06/22/babelia/1498116632_409486.html?id_externo_rsoc=FB_CC Adam Bell, 'Two Blue Buckets', Photo-Eye Blog, New York, 15th June 2017, http://blog.photoeye.com/2017/06/book-review-two-blue-buckets.html?m=1 Paul Lowe, '1001 Photographs you must see before you die', publisher, CasselI llustrated, "Peter Fraser, Cheddar No5", pp649 Simon Bowcock, 'Down to Earth - A revaluation of British colour photography', Photomonitor, Essays, July 2017 http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/earth-revaluation-british-colour-photography/ 'Renewed Blue Buckets', Annual Photographer's Lecture 2016, pp.12-17, and 'Mathematics' pp.18-23, Scottish Society for the History of Photography, Summer 2017 publication, Glasgow. Jeremy Millar, 'Mathematics', 1000 Words Blog, Issue 26 October 2017 http://www.1000wordsmag.com/peter-fraser/ |
| 2016 | 'Masterworks of Industrial photography', Exhibitions 2015 Mast Foundation, Mast.Electra, Bologna, pp.442-443 Ryan Gander, 'Night in the Museum', Hayward Publishing, London, pp,78 Alexis Fabry and Maria Wills, 'Transiciones', La Fabrica, Madrid, and Toluca Editions, Paris, pp,22, 23, 142,148. Paul Lowe, 'Photography Masterclass', Thames and Hudson, London, pp,106, 107 John McLean, 'Hometowns', Hunter and James, London, pp multiple, un-numbered. |
| 2015 | Simonetta Ferrini, 'Peter Fraser - A City in the Mind', 'Making Them Visible', Florence University of the Arts, pp.45-50 Rosa Olivares, 'Peter Fraser, Material', Exit Magazine, Madrid, No 58, pp.70-77 |
| 2014 | Mark Durden, ’Peter Fraser’, Photography Today, Phaidon Press, 2014, pp. 126-129. Blind Spot, 20th Anniversary Issue, No 47, pp. 99 Phil Coomes, 'Photography Today', BBC News, 4th June, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-27661889 |
| 2013 | David Chandler, 'Peter Fraser, Photographs 1981-2012’ monograph, Tate Publishing 2013. John Burnside, Tate Etc, Issue 27, 2013, ‘A Liberation From the Ordinary’. Sophie Kazan, 'Peter Fraser at Tate St Ives', Aesthetica Magazine, 8th February, 2013 |
| 2012 | Adam Bell, ‘ A City in the Mind’, Photoeye, New York, blog 5th November, 2012. Diane Smyth, British Journal of Photography IPad edition, July 2012, The Secret Life of Objects British Journal of Photography, July 2012, Pick of Top 12 Shows to see this Summer Daily Telegraph, Q & A, 24 May, 2012 Sarah Philips, The Guardian, 14 June 2012, My Best Shot Nicole degli Innocenti, Il Sole 24 Ore, 7 June 2012, La citta delle mente è a LondraIndependent on Sunday, 1 July 2012, Photo book review Amy Dawson, Metro, 4 July 2012, Photo book review La Lettre de la Photographie, 8 June 2012, Exhibition preview Independent Magazine, 26 May 2012, In the Frame |
| 2010 | Jeffery Ladd, 5B4 Blogspot, June 25, 2010, ‘Lost For Words by Peter Fraser’, Alex Coles, ‘Architecture with Art in Mind’, Salt Bridges, Prestel Publishing Ltd, pp120 text, and pp88-113 images. |
| 2009 | At The Ruskin’, Oxford Poetry magazine, Magdalen College, Oxford University, Spring 2009, Vol.X111no1, pp 31>32 text, and 4 page colour insert. Jay Merick, Independent Newspaper, London, 9th March 2009, ‘How does architecture affect academic study?’, Higher Education News, Peter Fraser, ‘Oxford University Residency’, Photoworks Magazine, Brighton, UK, Spring/Summer 2009, pp 28-37. |
| 2008 | ‘Máquinas’ (Machines), EXIT Magazine, Madrid, Issue 31, cover and pp. 130-137. ‘Troubled Waters’, 12 Still Lives from the Siemens Photography Collection, Walther König, Köln, Germany, cover and pp. 76-79. ‘No Such Thing as Society’, Photography in Britain 1967-1987, Professor David Mellor (author), Hayward Publishing, pp. 127-131, 133-135, 146. |
| 2007 | Gerry Badger, ‘The Genius of Photography, Quadrille Publishing, London. pp. 212. David Chandler, ‘Peter Fraser’, Photoworks Magazine, Brighton, England. May/October 2007, p74. Aaron Rothman, ‘Peter Fraser’, Photo Eye Booklist, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Spring 2007, pp. 20-22. Edgar Allen Beem, ‘Close Encounters With The Overlooked’, Photo District News, New York, July 2007, pp 82-86. |
| 2004 | Charlotte Cotton, ‘The Photograph As Contemporary Art’, Thames and Hudson, pp. 126-127. Heinz-Norbert Jooks, ‘Citigroup Photography Prize Exhibition’, Kunstforum 171, July/August 2004, pg 326. Michael Bracewell, ‘Peter Fraser photographs 2002-2003’, Portfolio Magazine, no 39, pp. 8 -13. Ian Jeffery, ‘Review Citigroup Prize’, Photoworks Magazine, Spring / Summer 2004, pp 54-57. Interview with Rachel Withers, ‘Peter Fraser Material’, FOAM Magazine, Issue 5 ‘Near’, pp. 99-117. Johanna Burton, ‘Tiny Jubilations’, Citigroup Photography Prize 2004, published by The Photographers’ Gallery, pp38-39. Oliver Bennett, ‘Out of the Ordinary’, Design Week, 8 January. Adrian Searle, ‘Smashing Pumpkins’, The Guardian, 29 January. Ben Lewis, ‘Photography Triumphant’, Prospect, February. Sean O’Hagan, ‘Drive to the Edge’, The Observer, 1 February. Sarah Kent, ‘Citigroup Photography Prize’, Time Out, 18 February. |
| 2003 | Johanna Burton, ‘A Few Dumb Ideas On Peter Fraser and Rachel Harrison’, Brighton Photo Biennial 2003 Publication (with Photoworks), pp. 10- 13. |
| 2002 | Gerry Badger, ‘Peter Fraser Material’, Next Level, Edition 02, Vol 01, pp. 42-29. Paul Tebbs, ‘Technological Confectionary’, Source, Issue 32, Autumn 2002, pp. 52-53. Geraldine Haigh, ‘Chromatically Correct’, Professional Photographer, August 2002, pp. 45-48. |
| 1999 | Sleazenation, January 1999, pp. 48-57. |
| 1998 | David Mellor, ‘British Photography: Towards A Bigger Picture’, Aperture Magazine, New York, pp. 57-61. |
| 1995 | Robert Duffy, ‘Fraser’s Different Focus’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 20 August. |
| 1994 | Ian Jeffrey, ‘Peter Fraser’, Untitled Magazine, Spring; p. 17. |
| 1993 | Mark Durden, ‘Ice and Water’, Creative Camera, Dec; p. 42. |
| 1989 | David Mellor, ‘Coincidenta Oppositorum’, Exhibition sheet, Interim Art, London. Sue Hubbard, ‘Peter Fraser – Triptychs’, Time Out, 26 July. Mary-Rose Beaumont, ‘Peter Fraser’, Arts Review, 28 July; p. 42. |
| 1988 | Ian Jeffery, ‘British Photography Flourishes’, Camera Austria, No 25, pp. 58-61. Ian Jeffrey, ‘Unrepentant Roses’, Creative Camera, December; p. 34. David Mellor, ‘Romances of Decay’, Aperture, New York, Autumn, p 34. |
| 1987 | Ian Jeffery, ‘Inscriptions and Inventions’, British Council Catalogue; pp. 14 -15. |
| 1986 | William Bishop, ‘Photographs by Peter Fraser’, Creative Camera, May; pp. 18-25. Susan Beardmore, ‘I hate Green’, Valleys Catalogue, Ffotogallery, Cardiff. |
| Collections | |
|---|---|
| Arts Council of England, London | |
| BlackRock Art Collection, London | |
| Contemporary Art Society, London | |
| Fotografie Forum, Frankfurt, Germany | |
| Foundation A Stichting, Bruxelles. | |
| HTV, Bristol, England | |
| Joy of Giving Something Collection, New York | |
| Manchester City Art Gallery, England, UK | |
| Mast Foundation, Bologna, Italy | |
| Morgan Stanley, London | |
| North West Arts Association, England | |
| Oldham Art Gallery, England | |
| Royal Photographic Society Collection, Bradford, UK | |
| Siemens Collection, Munich, Germany | |
| St. Louis Museum of Art, St. Louis, Missouri, USA | |
| Sun Life Collection, National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, England | |
| Tate, London | |
| The Arthur Andersen Art Collection, London | |
| The British Council, London | |
| The Victoria and Albert Museum, London | |
| Washington University Art Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, USA | |
| Worldwide Private Collections | |