Trevor Key – Trevor Key (book)

Trevor Key is the first book devoted to the work of the influential British photographer whose experimental approach to image-making helped shape some of the most distinctive visual cultures of the late twentieth century.

Covering more than two decades of work from 1972 to 1995, the book focuses on Key’s meticulous, often surreal still-life photography and the inventive analogue techniques that gave his images their unmistakable character. Long before digital manipulation became commonplace, Key was pushing darkroom processes, colour, composition and photographic convention into strange new territory.

Central to the book is his collaborative practice. Key worked closely with some of the most important art directors and designers of the period, including Jamie Reid, David James and Peter Saville. His relationship with Saville was particularly significant, extending beyond commissioned record sleeves into an ongoing exploration of how photography, graphic design and image-making could be rethought. Their work together produced images that remain inseparable from the visual identity of artists such as New Order.

Edited and sequenced by Björn Kusoffsky and designed by Stockholm Design Lab, the book also includes an essay by curator and writer Charlotte Cotton and an extended conversation between Cotton and Peter Saville, offering a personal account of Key’s working methods, collaborations and influence.

Published by the Sigma Foundation in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, Trevor Key is a substantial 244-page document of a photographer whose work sits at the intersection of music, art, photography and graphic design. Essential for anyone interested in post-punk visual culture, record sleeve design, experimental photography and the creative history surrounding Factory Records and Peter Saville.