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Neil Kenlock

Neil Emile Elias Kenlock MBE (born 1950) is a Jamaican-born photographer and media professional who has lived in London since the 1960s. During the 1960s and 1970s, Kenlock was the official photographer of the British Black Panthers, and he has been described as being "at the forefront of documenting the black experience in the UK".[1] Kenlock was the co-founder of Choice FM, the first successful radio station granted a licence to cater for the black community in Britain.[2]

Neil Kenlock
MBE
Born
Neil Emile Elias Kenlock

1950 (age 73–74)
Port Antonio, Jamaica
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Photographer and media professional
Known forCo-founder of Choice FM
official photographer of the British Black Panthers
Websitekenlockphotography.com

Background and career

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Neil Kenlock was born in 1950 Port Antonio, Jamaica, where he was raised by his grandmother until 1963, when he migrated to London to join his parents who had settled in Brixton.[3] As a youth in south London he captured in photographs the lives of the local community as well as becoming known for portraits taken on family occasions, his work as a whole coming to represent an exploration of many aspects of black British culture and history.[4]

After working for photographic studios, in 1973 he became a staff photographer for West Indian World, one of the first national black British newspapers.[3] In his first two decades as a professional photographer he specialised in fashion, beauty, celebrities and the cultural lifestyles of Black Britons.[5] Also noted for his street photography, during the late 1960s and the 1970s Kenlock became involved with the British Black Panther movement, becoming the group's official photographer and documenting anti-racist protests and demonstrations in the UK.[6][7]

In 1979, Kenlock co-founded the pioneering Black lifestyle magazine Root ("A British Ebony, only more connected to how people live in Britain"),[8] published until 1987, and he subsequently became co-founder of Choice FM, which was the UK's first radio station broadcasting to the black community.[5]

Key figures and leaders in the black community feature in his photographic archive, including Olive Morris, Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Courtney Laws, Audley Baines, Darcus Howe and Lionel Morrison.[4] Among international superstars whom Kenlock has photographed over the years are Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Eartha Kitt, Donald Quarrie, Eddy Grant, James Baldwin and Muhammad Ali, icons of reggae music such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff. Desmond Dekker and John Holt, and political personalities including Diane Abbott, Michael Manley and Indira Gandhi.[9]

In August 2018, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush bringing one of the first large groups of post-war West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom, the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) showed 70 of Kenlock's photographs in the exhibition Expectations: The untold story of Black community leaders, curated by his daughter Emelia Kenlock, featuring such notable African and Caribbean subjects as Olive Morris, Darcus Howe, Arthur Wint, Lord David Pitt, Courtney Law and Steve Barnard.[10][11][12][13] Funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project "aims to give access to examples of black leadership, as well as archive material outside of the normal educational environment," as Kenlock stated in an interview: "Over 50 years since the concept of ‘black excellence' first manifested and 70 years on from the Windrush, I truly hope the exhibition will add to the national cultural narrative and resonate with new audiences."[14]

Kenlock was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to media.[15]

In February 2022, Kenlock was named in CasildART's list of the top six Black British photographers, alongside Charlie Phillips, James Barnor, Armet Francis, Pogus Caesar and Vanley Burke.[16]

Exhibitions

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Solo exhibitions

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  • The Amazing Lost Legacy of the British Black Panthers, Photofusion Gallery, Brixton, London, 2013[17]
  • Stan Firm Inna Inglan: Black Diaspora in London, 1960–1970, Tate Britain, London, 2017[18]
  • Expectations, Black Cultural Archives, Windrush Square, London, 2018[19][20]
  • Chatham House, London, for Black History Month, 2021[21]

Group exhibitions

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  • Roots to Reckoning: the photography of Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock and Charlie Phillips, Museum of London, London, 2005[22]
  • Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2015[23]
  • Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s–Now, Tate Britain, London, 2021/2022[24]

References

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  1. ^ "15 great black Britons who made history", BBC, iWonder, 10 November 2016.
  2. ^ Neil Kenlock, "After the demise of Choice FM, is it back to pirate radio for black Britons?", The Guardian, 14 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Neil Kenlock", at V&A.
  4. ^ a b "People & Communities", Kenlock Photography.
  5. ^ a b "The Photographer", Kenlock Photography.
  6. ^ Hazelann Williams, "Reliving The British Black Panther Movement", The Voice, 9 January 2012.
  7. ^ Jilke Golbach (16 October 2019). "Photographing black Britain: Neil Kenlock & Armet Francis". Museum of London. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  8. ^ Lionel Morrison, A Century of Black Journalism in Britain: A Kaleidoscopic View of Race and the Media (1893-2003), Truebay, 2007, p. 37.
  9. ^ "Celebrities & Icons", Kenlock Photography.
  10. ^ Myvanwy Evans, "Expectations: The Untold Story of Black British Community Leaders in the 60s and 70s | 8 Aug 2018 – 28 Sep 2018", ArtRabbit, 4 July 2018.
  11. ^ Richard Moss, "Neil Kenlock's photos of black community leaders head home to Brixton", Museum Crush, 19 July 2018.
  12. ^ Emily Hurley, "Expectations: Neil Kenlock at the Black Cultural Archives, Brixton", The Jackal, 10 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Expectations Exhibition –The Neil Kenlock Archive, 7 AUGUST – 28 SEPTEMBER 2018", Black Cultural Archives.
  14. ^ Joel Campbell, "Documenting Our Hidden Heritage At New Exhibition", The Voice, 5 August 2018.
  15. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N21.
  16. ^ "Top Six Black British Photographers You Should Know". CasildART. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  17. ^ Bruno Bayley, "The Amazing Lost Legacy of the British Black Panthers", Vice, 2013.
  18. ^ Hughes, Sarah (9 April 2017). "The story of the British Black Panthers through race, politics, love and power". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  19. ^ "The Expectations Exhibition 2018 Trailer". YouTube.
  20. ^ Leslie Manasseh, "Expectations: The untold story of Black community leaders", Brixton Blog, 4 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Neil Kenlock exhibition at Chatham House this Black History Month". Chatham House. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  22. ^ Golbach, Jilke (16 October 2019). "Black British photography: Neil Kenlock and Armet Francis". Museum of London. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  23. ^ Ryder, Matthew (8 February 2015). "The black experience: portraits of a community". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  24. ^ Cumming, Laura (5 December 2021). "Life Between Islands review – a mind-altering portrait of British Caribbean life through art". The Observer. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
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