Graham Finlayson

Finlayson was born in Ecclesall, Yorkshire in 1932{{cite web | url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=england+%26+wales+births+1837-2006&firstname=graham+&lastname=finlayson&eventyear=1932&eventyear_offset=2 | title=Search Results for England 26 Wales Births 1837-2006 }} He started work at the Southampton Echo, but after national service "with the RAF air–sea rescue division""Graham Finlayson" (profile, unpaginated), within Dennis Thorpe, ed., A Long Exposure: 100 Years of Pictures from Guardian Photographers in Manchester (1908–2008): Walter Doughty, Tom Stuttard, Bob Smithies, Graham Finlayson, Don McPhee, Denis Thorpe and Christopher Thomond (S.l.: Axis Projects / Denis Thorpe, 2008; {{ISBN|978-0-9554825-3-3}}). worked in Manchester, first for the Daily Mail and from 1959 for the Guardian,Robert Smithies, "[https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/feb/27/guardianobituaries1 Through a lens lightly]" (obituary), The Guardian, 27 February 1999. Accessed 16 February 2013."[https://www.theguardian.com/newsroom/story/0,11718,1323245,00.html Exhibitions: Graham Finlayson: early photographs]", The Guardian Newsroom, [February 2005]. Accessed 16 February 2013. in Manchester (replacing Bob Smithies, who moved to London).

Finlayson was generous in photographing the Hallé Orchestra.

Finlayson was able to photograph L. S. Lowry, usually uncooperative with the press, and had a particularly successful working relationship with the writer Arthur Hopcraft.Conrad Astley, "[http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/the-big-picture-graham-finlayson-1028756 The big picture: Graham Finlayson]", The Manchester Evening News, 29 August 2007. Accessed 16 February 2013.

The Guardian did not restrict Finlayson to the Manchester area, instead sending him on assignments to such places as Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Borneo, Nigeria and Indonesia."[https://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/gnm-archive-collection-in-focus-graham-finlayson Graham Finlayson]", The Guardian, GNM Archive (n.d.). Accessed 16 February 2013.

In 1963 Finlayson left the Guardian and Manchester to freelance, basing himself in Hampshire. The timing was good, as the colour supplements of Britain's Sunday newspapers were starting up. He did well among them, and later successfully covered sports (in which he was not interested) for Sports Illustrated.[https://archive.today/20130407231312/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/article/Graham_Finlayson/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/mdd/index.htm Search results for Finlayson], Sports Illustrated archive. Accessed 17 February 2013. He also covered architecture, industry, fashion, and travel."[https://www.theguardian.com/newsroom/story/0,11718,1458606,00.html Press release: Graham Finlayson: Early photographs]", The Guardian Newsroom, 8 February 2005. Accessed 16 February 2013.

Toward the end of a warm obituary for Finlayson, Bob Smithies wrote that he "suffered from melancholia [. . .] he was never sure of his worth, satisfied with his endeavours or convinced of his value to those who valued him"; after heart trouble in the early 1990s he gave up photography and moved with his wife to France. He died of cancer in 1999.

Even while Finlayson was still working as a photographer, his earlier work had become little remembered. Martin Harrison credits a 1983 exhibition at the Photographers' Gallery, British Photography 1955–65 (curated by Sue Davies), with saving his work (as well as that of John Bulmer and others) from obscurity;Martin Harrison, preface to Young Meteors: British Photojournalism, 1957–1965 (London: Cape, 1998; {{ISBN|0-224-05129-6}}). much later, Harrison would go on to show it in a 1998 exhibition titled The Young Meteors.

• Graham Finlayson: Early photographs, The Newsroom, The Guardian and Observer Archive and Visitor Centre (London), January–March 2005.
• Graham Finlayson: Simply Black and White, The Lowry (Salford), 2006.Alastair Sooke, "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3651440/Viewfinder-Bantry-Bay-Pub-1959-by-Graham-Finlayson.html Viewfinder: 'Bantry Bay Pub' (1959) by Graham Finlayson]", The Telegraph, 8 April 2006. Accessed 16 February 2013.

• British Photography 1955–1965: The Master Craftsmen in Print, The Photographers' Gallery (London), 1983.
• The Young Meteors: British Photojournalism 1957–1965, National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (Bradford), July–November 1998; Focus Gallery (London), 1999.
• A Long Exposure: 100 Years of Pictures from Guardian Photographers in Manchester (1908–2008), The Lowry (Salford), October 2008 – March 2009. With Walter Doughty, Tom Stuttard, Bob Smithies, Don McPhee and Denis Thorpe."[http://www.mandh-online.com/news/content/529/the_lowry_celebrates_100_years_of_guardian_photography The Lowry celebrates 100 years of Guardian photography] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130411082834/http://www.mandh-online.com/news/content/529/the_lowry_celebrates_100_years_of_guardian_photography |date=2013-04-11 }}", M&H News. Accessed 16 February 2013."[http://www.thelowry.com/press-releases/2009/02/24/guardian-photography-exhibition-extended Guardian photography exhibition extended] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044644/http://www.thelowry.com/press-releases/2009/02/24/guardian-photography-exhibition-extended |date=2016-03-04 }}", The Lowry, 24 February 2009. Accessed 16 February 2013.The exhibition was described as also presenting work by Neil Libbert. Libbert is profiled in the (unpaginated) book that accompanied the exhibition, but the profile says "Sadly none of Neil Libbert's photographs were available for this exhibition."
• Saturday Night and Sunday Morning: The Authentic Moment in British Photography, Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University of Nottingham, November 2012 – February 2013."[https://archive.today/20130419142648/http://www.alumni.nottingham.ac.uk/netcommunity/sslpage.aspx?pid=3284 Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – a sensational new Lakeside exhibition]", University of Nottingham Alumni Online, 23 October 2012. Accessed 16 February 2013."[https://archive.today/20130505080933/http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Actress-open-photo-exhibition-factory-life/story-17176086-detail/story.html Actress to open photo exhibition of factory life]", Nottingham Post, 25 October 2012. Accessed 16 February 2013.Anna Douglas, ed., "[http://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/SiteData/Root/Media/SNSM%20exhibition%20guide%20230113.pdf Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Exhibition Guide]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}" (PDF), Lakeside Arts Centre, the University of Nottingham, 2nd ed., January 2013. Accessed 16 February 2013.

• Guardian News & Media Archive.

• Paul Jennings, text; Graham Finlayson, photographs. Just a Few Lines: Guinness Trains of Thought. London: Guinness Superlatives, 1969. {{ISBN|0900424508}}. About the Colne Valley, Scarborough–Whitby, Oxford–Fairford, and Neath–Brecon rail lines.
• Frank Tuohy, text; Graham Finlayson, photographs. Portugal. London: Thames & Hudson, 1970. {{ISBN|0500240663}}
• Portugal. Orbis terrarum. Zürich and Freiburg i. Breisgau: Atlantis, 1970. Translated into German by Aurelia Bundschuh. {{OCLC|253064204}}.
• Portugal. Paris: Braun, 1970. Translated into French by Maryvonne Menget. {{OCLC|462670530}}.
• Graham Finlayson: Simply Black and White. Salford Quays: Lowry Press, 2006. {{ISBN|9781902970318}}.

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Category:1932 births

Category:1999 deaths

Category:English photojournalists

Category:The Guardian photojournalists

Category:Daily Mail photojournalists

Category:Sports Illustrated photojournalists

Category:English expatriates in France