Photographs of black British experience

Source: The Estate of Al Vandenberg / Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Al Vandenberg, High Street Kensington from the series On a Good Day

The V&A has worked with the Black Cultural Archives to acquire images by black photographers or which document the lives of black people in Britain.

Source: Yinka Shonibare / Victoria and Albert, London

Yinka Shonibare, Diary of a Victorian Dandy

Among the works going on show are Yinka Shonibare’s Diary of a Victoria Dandy series from 1998 and black-and-white street photography of 1970s London by Al Vandenberg.

Source: Armet Francis / Victoria and Albert, London

Armet Francis, Self-Portrait in Mirror, London, 1964, gelatin silver print

There are also images of Raphael Albert’s black beauty pageants from the 1960s-‘80s, and images of youth culture taken by Norman “Normski” Anderson in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Source: Normski / Victoria and Albert, London

Normski, African Homeboy – Brixton, London, 1987, printed 2011, c-type print

To complement the photographs, Black Cultural Archives has collected oral histories from a range of subjects including the photographers themselves, their relatives, and the people depicted in the images.

Source: Neil Kenlock / Victoria and Albert, London

Neil Kenlock, Untitled Young woman seated on the floor at home in front of her television set, C- type print, London, 1972

Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience, 1950s-1990s is at the V&A, Cromwell Road, London SW7 from
16 February-24 May 2015.

Source: The Estate of J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere / Victoria and Albert, London

J. D. Okhai Ojeikere, HD-55774 Beri Beri, from the series Hairstyles, gelatin silver print, Nigeria, 1974