Photographer Paul Graham on the Statue of Liberty

Why It Matters

Graham’s remarks underscore how cultural symbols like the Statue of Liberty shape public discourse on immigration and national values, influencing perceptions in policy and society. His perspective as an immigrant photographer highlights the ongoing tension between America’s founding ideals and current political realities.

Summary

British-born photographer Paul Graham, an immigrant living in the U.S., describes the Statue of Liberty as a powerful, welcoming symbol of American idealism. He emphasizes its origins as a gift from France and its inscription "bring me your poor, your huddled," framing the monument as a reminder of core American values. Graham suggests the statue serves as a rejoinder to today’s fraught political climate, urging Americans to recall what the country stands for. He treats the monument as both historical and immediately relevant to contemporary debates over immigration and national identity.

Original Description

We visited British photographer Paul Graham in his New York storage and found him working on a small series of the Statue of Liberty.

Paul Graham is a contemporary British photographer living and working in New York City. Born in 1956 in Stafford, United Kingdom, he studied at Bristol University and began taking photographs during the 1970s. In 1981, Graham completed his first acclaimed work, A1: The Great North Road, a series of color photographs made along the A1, Great Britain’s longest numbered road connecting London and Edinburgh at both ends. His use of color film in the early 1980s, when British photography was dominated by the traditional black-and-white social documentary, had a revolutionary effect on the genre. Soon, a new school of photography emerged, with artists like Martin Parr, Richard Billingham, Simon Norfolk, and Nick Waplington making the switch to color.

Graham is known for his sequential color prints of people engaged in daily life. His 12-volume photobook, A Shimmer of Possibility (2007), summarizes Graham’s interest in drawing attention to overlooked activities or places. “It has steadily become less important to me that the photographs are about something in the most obvious way. I am interested in more elusive and nebulous subject matter,” he has explained. The artist has been the subject of more than eighty solo exhibitions worldwide. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum (all in New York City), the Tate Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum (both in London), the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Fotomuseum Winterthur, Musee de la Photographie (Charleroi), Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Copenhagen), among others.

Paul Graham was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in his New York City storage in March 2026.

Camera: Simon Weyhe

Edited by: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan

Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2026

Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond.

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