Numbers 201 – 1000

This is the first book published on Derek Ridgers’ early photography that focuses on a single person (Nick Cave) as subject, and comprises material taken from four photographic shoots dating from 1984, 1989, 1992, and 1997, when Ridgers was working as a freelance photographer for music press publications. Many of the photographs were found in Ridgers’ newly ordered archives, which had been sorted out from disordered boxes of slides and film negatives during lockdown and the many previously unseen photographs were scanned directly from the original transparencies.

This material has now been printed by full colour lithography with the black and white images also being run as full colour to obtain optimal results and high contrast. With this attention to technical detail and printing processes the images are presented in the highest quality rendering. This beautifully presented book will be a must acquisition for superfans, collectors and anyone interested in photography and its place in pop culture. The 128 pages of 175gsm matt paper have been section stitched into a hardback full bound in a rich blue cloth with biblical gold foil titling on the rounded spine and cover. The cover itself features a recessed attached picture of Nick Cave, and is one of the most recognisable portraits ever taken of the singer. There is an illustrated image pressed in black carbon on the back cover drawn by Ridgers.

Inside the publication there is another defining one-off feature – a specially perforated page has been created by using an old traditional method of printing known as letterpress using a vintage Heidelberg machine to cut holes that run vertically down the entire length of the page – this features a Derek Ridger’s shot of Cave stood in front of a large line of graffiti that reads ‘THIS IS A DISGRACE’, conceptually enabling the reader to tear Cave out of the book with ‘GRACE’.