Fay Godwin archive saved for the nation

07 May 2008

The British Library has recently acquired the archive of the celebrated late photographer Fay Godwin (1931 – 2005). Renowned for her stunning black and white landscape photographs of the British countryside and coast, Godwin also produced an extensive series of portraits of literary figures including Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis, Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Drabble, Tom Stoppard and the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, with whom she collaborated on the acclaimed 1979 book, Remains of Elmet.

The archive was accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the British Library. It includes the entire contents of Godwin's studio: negatives, contact sheets and exhibition prints (around 11,000 prints in total), as well as correspondence with some of her sitters including Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin and Doris Lessing.

Fay Godwin had no formal training, but became interested in photography through family snaps. She went on to produce portraits of well known writers, photographing almost every significant literary figure in 1970s and 1980s England, as well as numerous visiting foreign authors. Her sitters included Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis, Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie, Ted Hughes, Margaret Drabble, Tom Stoppard, Saul Bellow, Günter Grass, Anthony Powell, Edna O'Brien, Clive James, Jean Rhys and Angela Carter. These photographs were mostly taken in the sitters' own homes, offering a tantalising glimpse into their personal lives and working environments. Her collection of writers' portraits provides an illuminating insight into British literary society of the late 20th century.

Her love of walking eventually inspired her to pursue landscape photography, often photographing isolated and remote areas of the British landscape and producing many beautiful pastoral scenes as well as contrasting urban landscapes. President of the Ramblers' Association from 1987 to 1990, she was also renowned for her work as an environmentalist, her interest reflected in many of her best-known images that examine the complex relationships and tensions between man and nature.

In 1978 Godwin was awarded a major Arts Council Bursary to enable her to continue her landscape work in the distant parts of Scotland. Her work is in many public and private collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, The British Council, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the Stanford Museum of Art and the Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield. At the beginning of 1984 a collection of her work began a world tour by the British Council, the first collection of photographs to be toured by their fine art department. In 1987 she was made a Fellow of the National Museum of Photography and in 1990 received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society. In 2002 the Barbican Centre mounted a major retrospective exhibition, Landmarks and Godwin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts at De Montfort University in 2002. She died in May 2005, aged 74.

John Falconer, Head of Visual Materials, at the British Library commented:
"Fay Godwin's archive is an exciting addition to the British Library's photographic holdings, which represent a resource of major international importance for the study and enjoyment of photography. As well as enhancing and enriching our existing photographic collections, the extensive archive of writers' portraits and correspondence greatly complements the British Library's modern literary collections. I am certain that the archive will be an invaluable resource for researchers for years to come."

For further information or images, contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44(0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk

Notes to Editors

The archive includes around 11,000 photographic prints, including thousands of landscape photographs of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, 58 photographs of writers, exhibition and published print photographs, as well as personal and family portraits. The collection also includes correspondence, a small quantity of photographic prints by other photographers, photographic equipment and copies of her own books.

The British Library is the national Library of the United Kingdom. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. Further information is available on the Library's website at www.bl.uk

The Acceptance in Lieu scheme, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), on behalf of the government, allows items deemed to be national treasures to be given to the nation in place of inheritance tax. The MLA is the government's strategic agency for museums, galleries, libraries and archives. More information at www.mla.gov.uk