The idea that influenced Griffin's concept was that his residency was within the Western Front, where British and Commonwealth soldiers were posted during WWI.
In the town of Béthune by coincidence is a large McCain potato factory - one of the largest potato production plants in Europe. This formed the inspiration for the project.
'Around the city, there are massive fields of potatoes, which end up on our plates, McDonald's French fries, you know. Those potatoes grow in soil where bodies and body parts and rivers of human blood have been buried within the soil! So I decided to spend a day or two in this factory. I saw potatoes coming in large trucks and samples being taken. What happens when the soil which we feed from, is also that which houses the blood of thousands of soldiers?' - Brian Griffin
"I think that Brian is one of the most interesting portrait photographers ever. His portrait photography belongs to another time. Portrait photography today is like so simple, so straightforward, so it seems that all photography portraits are alike. Brian is different and Brian has a craziness in him - a craziness in a way to see the world, and intensity that belongs only to him."

- Francois Hébel, Director, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (present), Director, Les Rencontres d'Arles (1986-1987, 2001-2014), in the documentary by Michael Prince; The Surreal Lives of Brian Griffin, 2018 

BRIAN GRIFFIN - ARTIST PAGE