Vanley Burke

Vanley Burke (born 1951) is a British Jamaican photographer and artist.

Life and work

Vanley Burke was born in St. Thomas, Jamaica, in 1951. He was sent a "Box Brownie" camera by his parents, who were living in England, for his 10th birthday. He came to England in 1965 to join his parents and left his radio to his aunt as a parting gift, taking his camera with him.[1] Vanley seriously started photography around 1967, making a conscious decision to document the black community and lifestyle in England.

His photographs capture experiences of his community’s arrival in Britain, the different landscapes and cultures he encountered, the different ways of survival and experiences of the wider African-Caribbean community. His photography sought to counteract any perception of negative or stereotypical imagery of black people found in mainstream media. His photographs[2] represented the black community back to themselves in intimate portrayal and were taken from his perspective as an integral member of the community as opposed to basic documentary images perceived from "outsiders". Vanley's interests have expanded to include other communities in the city and their experiences.

Vanley's first notable exhibition, Handsworth from the Inside, was held at the Ikon Gallery Birmingham, and then the Commonwealth Institute in London in 1983. Since then his work has been exhibited extensively at venues including The Light House, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, The Black Arts Gallery in London, Cornerhouse in Manchester and Walsall Museum and Art Gallery, and he has held solo exhibitions abroad in New York and Mali. In addition to many prestigious galleries and other traditional settings, Vanley has purposely exhibited his work in locations more easily accessible to black audiences such as community centres, clubs, pubs, churches, pool halls and schools.[3]

Vanley's work has also been used in documentaries (such as Handsworth Songs), television programmes, books and on record sleeves such as UB40’s Jeffrey Morgan. A biography A Retrospective, on the life and works of Vanley, was published by Lawrence & Wishart, edited by Mark Sealy.[4] In 1990 Burke received a call from a friend in South Africa saying: "South Africa is going to be free and we need you here." During two visits to South Africa, in 1990 then in 1996, Vanley photographed the life of black South Africans just after Mandela's release from prison and the subsequent ANC celebrations hosted and attended by Mandela for the Anti-Apartheid veterans.

The "Vanley Burke Archive" maintained by Birmingham City Council is a constantly growing photographic and documentary community resource of huge range and depth. Complementing his photographic documentation, Vanley collects material which samples and evidences developments and activities of the black community in Britain. The material comprises things such as posters or flyers and funeral cards that may have been seen as disposable at the time of their creation but take greater significance when maintained in the context of his extensive archive. They evidence and provide valuable insight of the daily activities and everyday lives, cultural and religious beliefs, the arts, political ideals, health and many other facets affecting black community and others in Birmingham and in Britain. Well over thirty years after first picking up his camera, Vanley Burke is still documenting the black community in the UK and has recently worked on a number of projects including an exhibition and publication project documenting the Asian community in Birmingham.[5]

From humble beginnings, Vanley Burke is often the subject matter of students dissertations and is considered the most renowned and prolific black photographer in the UK, acclaimed as the "Grandfather of Black British photography". Having won a Kodak Award as early as 1984, Vanley has also received an Honorary Doctorate from Leicester University, UK, in 2007, and the Wolverhampton School of Art and Design presented with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Art in 2009[6] at their award ceremony. Professor Stuart Hall endorsed that "the personal, social and economic life of black people as they arrived, settled and became established in British society – is being constructed, given a certain meaning, significance, value, by Vanley Burke’s camera eye, not merely 'captured'."

Vanley is a father to three sons, a grandfather to six children.

"It's just about the ability to see something others may be unable to see, in terms of the value. Then show people. They need to see their contribution to this community. I mean, they have been contributing to this thing from the 50s and it's gone beyond, but there is no reference anywhere. It's about having themselves reflected, they are so desperate to see themselves. But this will be there, it isn't going anywhere...." Vanley Burke, September 2005.

Solo exhibitions

Published works

References

  1. ↑ "Vanley Burke", Autograph ABP.
  2. ↑ Vanley Burke images.
  3. ↑ Legacy Archives, Tyne and Wear. "Spotlight on ...".
  4. ↑ Sealy, Mark (1 November 1993). A Retrospective. Lawrence & Wishart. ISBN 0-85315-783-9.
  5. ↑ "The Vanley Burke Archive". Birmingham City Council.
  6. ↑ "Vanley Burke: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Art".

External links

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