Nick Waplington (born 1965) is a British-American artist and photographer. Many books of Waplington's work have been published. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Tate Britain and The Photographers' Gallery in London, at Philadelphia Museum of Art in the USA, and at the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford, UK; and in group exhibitions at Venice Biennale, Italy"Learn How to Die the Easy Way: Nick Waplington" T J Boulting. Accessed 3 July 2017 and Brooklyn Museum, New York City. In 1993, he was awarded an Infinity Award for Young Photographer by the International Center of Photography. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Victoria and Albert Museum and Government Art Collection in London, National Gallery of Australia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Royal Library, Denmark.
Early life and education Waplington was born in Aden, Yemen. He traveled extensively during his childhood as his father worked as a scientist in the nuclear industry.
Waplington studied art at West Sussex College of Art & Design in Worthing; Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham; and the Royal College of Art in London.
Career From 1984, Waplington would regularly visit his grandfather on the Broxtowe Estate in Aspley, Nottingham, where he began to photograph his immediate surroundings. Friends and neighbours of his family became his subject matter of choice. He continued with this work on and off for the next 15 years and from it came two books (Living Room and Weddings, Parties, Anything) and numerous exhibitions.
In 2001, Waplington's work Learn How to Die the Easy Way (2002) was part of the group exhibition at the Venice Biennale 2001.
In 2003, Watlington collaborated with Miguel Calderon to create the graphic novel, Terry Painter.
From 2008-09, Waplington worked on a major book project with the fashion designer Alexander McQueen, called Working Process (2013). The title refers to both McQueen's working process as a fashion designer and Waplington's working process as an artist making photo books. In March 2015 this project became the first one-person exhibition by a British photographer in the main exhibition space at Tate Britain in London.
In 2011, Waplington self-published Lackadaisical, using a print on demand service, his response to increasingly expensive photobooks. It was later edited and expanded in the form of another edition called Extrapolations.
While continuing to make photographic works, since 2010, Waplington has devoted most of his time to his practice as a painter.
Waplington participated in the photography collective This Place, founded by Frédéric Brenner, contributing the book Settlement (2014), a study of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, portrait and landscape photographs taken with a large format camera.
Waplington played the Wembley Photographer in the 2025 Josh-Safdie-directed movie Marty Supreme.
Work Waplington's 1994 book Other Edens focused on environmental concerns and, although it was conceived and worked on at the same time as Living Room, was seen as a major departure in style and content. This work is global in nature and its ideas are ambiguous and multi-layered.
Safety in Numbers (1997) is a study of the ecstasy drug culture in the mid-1990s.
The Indecisive Memento (1999) is a global road trip where the journey itself was the artwork (1999).
Truth or Consequences (2001) is a pictorial game based on the history of photography using the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico as a backdrop, inspired by the rules of the 1950s television show.
In You Love Life (2005) Waplington uses pictures taken over a 20-year period to construct an autobiographical narrative.
Exhibitions Solo exhibitions YearTitleInstitutionLocationRef1990-1991Living RoomThe Photographers' GalleryLondon1992Living RoomPhiladelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphiaCircles of Civilization1994-1995Other EdensThe Photographers' GalleryLondon1996Weddings, Parties, AnythingNational Museum of Photography, Film & TelevisionBradford2007Project space, Whitechapel GalleryLondon2015Working Process,Tate Britain
Group exhibitions YearTitleInstitutionLocationNotesRef1995The DeadNational Museum of Photography, Film & TelevisionCurated by Val Williams and Greg Hobson200158th Venice BiennaleVenice2016This PlaceBrooklyn MuseumBrooklyn2017A Handful of DustLe BalParisWhitechapel GalleryLondonCurated by David Campany
Awards 1993: Infinity Award: Young Photographer, International Center of Photography, New York City"1993 Infinity Award: Young Photographer" International Center of Photography. Accessed 3 July 2017
Collections Waplington's work is held in the following public collections: Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, UK Government Art Collection, London: 1 print Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia: 5 prints Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA: 4 prints Royal Library, Denmark Science Museum Group, UK: 2 prints and a book (as of 24 October 2022) Victoria and Albert Museum, London: 14 pieces
Publications Books by Waplington Living Room. Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1991. New York: Aperture, 1991. . Other Edens. New York: Aperture, 1994. . Marianne Wiggins contributes an introduction. Weddings, Parties, Anything. Irvine Welsh contributes an essay. Weddings, Parties, Anything. New York: Aperture, 1996. UK edition. The Wedding. New York: Aperture, 1996. . US edition. Safety in Numbers. London: Booth Clibborn, 1997. London: Booth Clibborn, 2002. . The Indecisive Memento. London: Booth Clibborn, 1999. . Truth or Consequences. London: Phaidon, 2001. . Learn how to die the easy way. London: Trolley, 2002. . Waplington's contribution to a group exhibition at Venice Biennale in 2001. Terry Painter. Self-published, 2003. Graphic novel, art directed, story and concept by Waplington and Miguel Calderon and illustration by Domingo & Celilia. You Love Life. London: Trolley, 2005. . Double Dactyl. London: Trolley, 2008. . Working Process. New York: Damiani, 2013. . Surf Riot. New York: Little Big Man, 2011. Edition of 300 copies. Lackadaisical. New York: self-published, 2011. Edition of 100 copies. Second expanded edition. New York: self-published, 2011. Edition of 100 copies. Extrapolations. New York: self-published, 2011. Edition of 100 copies. The Patriarch's Wardrobe. Melbourne: PAMBook, 2012. . Settlement. London: Mack, 2014. . Made Glorious Summer. Tokyo: Powershovel, 2014. . 3 volumes and 1 insert. Edition of 500 copies. Living Room Work Prints. New York: Little Big Man, 2015. Edition of 700 copies. Cunt Away. London: Morel Books. . Irvine Welsh contributes an essay. Edition of 200 Copies We Live As We Dream, Alone. London: Morel, 2016. Edition of 500 copies. Neither A Salt Spring Nor A Horse. New York: Pacific, 2018. Edition of 400 copies Hackney Riviera. Jesus Blue, 2019. The Search for a Superior Moral Justification for Selfishness. London: Morel, 2019. Anaglypta 1980–2020. Self-published / Jesus Blue, 2020. . Edition of 1000 copies. Comprehensive. Phaidon Press, 2023. .
Zines by Waplington A Good Man's Grave Is His Sabbath. Deadbeat Club 32. Deadbeat Club/Little Big Man, 2015. Edition of 400 copies. Sesquipedalian. Geneva: Innen, 2017. Edition of 500 copies. Thomas Floored. Self Published: JesusBlue Books, 2020 Edition of 25 copies. SOMMAT. London & New York: JesusBlue Books / 1972, 2021. Edition of 650 copies.
Book paired with another Working Process. Bologna, Italy: Damiani, 2013. Edited by Alexander McQueen. . With a foreword by Susannah Frankel.
References
External links
Waplington's "Diary" site