Richard Learoyd (Lancashire, United Kingdom, 1966) graduated in photography at the Glasgow School of Art in 1990. Two years later he held his first solo exhibition at the Stills Gallery in Edinburgh. In 1994 he became Professor of Artistic Photography at the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art where he taught until 1999. The following year he moved to London and began his career as a commercial photographer. Nevertheless, he would soon turn his focus to artistic photography.

His photographs are characterized by a singular exploration of the technical and expressive possibilities of large formats. At the turn of the century Learoyd decided to return to the dawn of photography, trying to reach new horizons with the use of a camera obscura, utilizing different techniques, both with and without negatives. His surprising results were well received at some of the most prestigious galleries, such as Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco, which hosted exhibitions dedicated to his work in 2011 and 2013. Learoyd has also taken part in important group exhibitions revolving around some of the main axes of his work: Seduced by Art: Past and Present Photography (2012-2013), which was exhibited at the National Gallery in London and at CaixaForum in Madrid and Barcelona, and Negativeless (2014), exhibited at Michael Hoppen Gallery in London. His work belongs to collections at the Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, among others.