Robin Grierson’s photo book, Steam Rally published by Lost Press, explores the steam rally scene in England over the past 30 years. Following on from his earlier book John Laidlaw (which accompanied a show at The Photographers Gallery), Grierson’s Steam Rally is the first Art Photography book to document the unheralded world of the traction engine scene. His images record the people, their restored machines, and the unique culture of steam heritage, which draws crowds of enthusiasts to its events around Britain every summer. Steam Rally’s evocative introduction by esteemed journalist, editor and author, the late Ian Jack, explores the history of steam engines, their relationship with literature and their allure for celebrated writers of the past.
Having grown up around his father’s bus garage in County Durham and spent much of his for- mative years tinkering with engines, Grierson found himself instinctively drawn to the steam people and their beloved machines.This collection of thoughtfully composed images, includes portraits, close up details of people and their machines, along with wider views of steam rallies within the rural landscape. The photographer pays particular attention to the work-worn textures, stained surfaces, and subtle co- lours of his subject. Steam Rally opens a window into a popular but neglected aspect of British culture. Grierson’s approach to his steam photographs, is ‘an approach of unconditional support and sympathy for these people …and from the toughest of faces issues an unlikely sweetness.The genuine tone of this work derives undoubtedly from the photographer’s long acquaintance with working men and the tools and sounds of busy engineering yards’. – David Lee (AG Magazine).
Robin Grierson studied Photography at the Royal College of Art and his photographs have been published in some of the most prestigious magazines in the world including Vogue, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, and many others. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Art Sao Paulo, The Photographers Gallery in London, Angela Flowers Gallery, Gallery of Photography Dublin. His work is in the collections of the V&A Museum, The National museum of Photography, and the Arts Council of Great Britain.
Robin Grierson : Steam Rally
Lost Press
Hardback
120 pages
72 colour plates
240mm x 200mm
ISBN: 978 1 91623 732 2
£45.00
www.lostpress.org
