Stephen Gill, signed or sealed, 2021

After seeing the excellent exhibition Coming up for Air: Stephen Gill, A Retrospective at the Arnolfini in Bristol (the photographer’s birthplace; thankfully he’s not as famous as his contemporary Bristolian, Banksy, so it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be), I went to buy the exhibition catalogue, a hefty book with 624 pages and great value for money, especially compared to Gill’s individual books, which can cost up to £150 each – the catalogue is currently at a special exhibition price of £25 (instead of £35).

But I was in a quandary: the book was printed in different coloured covers, so some were green, some were red, or yellow or brown. It took me a while to decide on green. Then some were sealed, and some weren’t. The ones which weren’t sealed seemed to be signed by Gill. Obviously I went for a sealed copy but checked at the counter that it was signed. It wasn’t!

I was torn. Perfect copy sealed, or a copy flicked through by God knows how many people, but signed. Obviously I opted for signed.

And green. Out of interest, I ask the cashier what the most popular colour was. He didn’t know, so he asks his assistant. She doesn’t know, and asks me if I want the most popular colour. No, I said, I was just curious. In fact, I quip, it was the kind of thing Gill himself would like to document – the amounts of each colour cover sold. Well, says the cashier, when the exhibition was being mounted, Gill did joke he’d like to do a photo project of all the admin involved in creating the exhibition. We chuckled.

I was about to buy the green, signed book. Then the assistant says, ‘There’s one more thing,’ and I pause mid-transaction. Yes? ‘Some colours are rarer than others’. I say, ‘I’ll never leave if I think any more about this!’ I buy the green, signed book and am very happy with it.

Previously on Barnflakes
Top ten photography books I want but can’t afford
Notes on Stephen Gill, photographer
Notes on being me