RIP Chris Killip

Chris Killip has died. He probably made his name as a photographer with his photos documenting the industrial decline in the north-east of England. But for me, as a fellow Manxman, it is his photos of the people and places of the Isle of Man that resonate the most with me, because I grew up with them.

My parents had a hotel, which like many hotels on the island was open only during the Summer season, which ran from June to September. When I was very young – up until I think my eighth year – I would be sent to stay with a family in the country during the season, because my parents had their hands full with running the hotel. This was no hardship for me, because I was living in the countryside, but farming was not an easy life as Killip’s photos show. This photo of the interior of a Manx cottage could have been taken in the cottage where I lived for at least two of the seasons:

It was still common to see horse-drawn ploughs, and look at this photo of Mr. Corkhill, the blacksmith, and his son – the size of the horseshoe gives you an idea of how large the Shire horses were. To a small boy, they were gigantic, mysterious beasts, whose eyes held hidden secrets.

I remember also seeing Mr. Kinnish’s threshing and milling machine in action:

I’m talking about the 1950s. Chris Killip took his photos between 1970 and 1973. It is clear that even 20 years after I lived amongst the farming community, that things had hardly moved on at all. The Farmers Mart at St. Johns, just a few miles from where I stayed in Greeba, looks much the same as when I was around 20 years earlier.

The Manx Museum has a good collection of his Manx photos which can be seen online here.