I'm a Real Photographer

the long version

"Born in Oxford in 1930 and now retired, Keith Arnatt led a life as an artist that falls into two distinct parts. In the late 1960s his iconoclastic performances, sculptures and texts, challenging the tenets of 'art', established him as an influential Conceptual artist. But then in the mid 1970s, in an act defying the prevailing values of the art world, Arnatt chose to become a photographer instead. Over the following 28 years he immersed himself in the history of photography, making progressive photo series in the immediate vicinity of his home in South Wales." "Nineteen series of photographs are featured here in the first comprehensive account of Arnatt's photography. Accompanying 160 of Arnatt's photographs reproduced here is a personal account of Arnatt's journey by David Hurn - Magnum photographer, author and Arnatt's close friend and colleague. With a forward by Brett Rogers - Director of The Photographers' Gallery, and an illustrated contextual essay exploring the links between his Conceptual art and his photography, by Clare Grafik - curator of The Photographer's Gallery."--Jacket.