Centre for British Photography announces autumn exhibitions

The Centre for British Photography has announced a series of exhibitions on show this autumn that highlight the importance of community focused photography.

The exhibitions, which will run from 5 October to 17 December 2023, feature photos by Dorothy Bohm and Charlie Phillips documenting London’s food markets and African Caribbean funerals in London as well as Daniel Meadows’s documentary reportage. Entry is free.

Founding Director of the Centre James Hyman said, ‘Building a community around photography in Britain is central to our aims and I am delighted that our autumn exhibitions present a range of voices, across generations, to celebrate different communities. Our mission is to provide a platform for all types of photography and to champion the ways in which our lives are enriched through learning about the perspectives, cultures and heritages of others.’

See more information on the exhibitions below:

Centre for British Photography autumn exhibitions

How Great Thou Art, 50 Years of African Caribbean Funerals in London by Charlie Phillips

The first of the of the lead exhibitions is a sensitive photographic documentary of the social and emotional traditions that surround death in London’s African Caribbean community. It will be the first time that the Centre for British Photography’s main space will present a solo exhibition.

Clinton ‘Eastwood’ Jones at Cassidy’s funeral, Kensal Rise, 1972. Photo credit: Charlie-Phillips

Free Photographic Omnibus by Daniel Meadows

The second lead exhibition, “Free Photographic Omnibus” commemorates the 50 years since Daniel Meadows set off on a long-planned adventure in a rickety 1948 double decker bus that he had repurposed as his home, gallery and darkroom. Over the course of 14 months, he photographed 958 people in 22 towns and cities. The exhibition will feature photographs from this project as well as previously unseen works of documentary reportage that Meadows made during his travels.

Neil with his head in an elephant’s mouth, Circus Hoffman, Weymouth, Dorset. July 1974. Photo credit Daniel Meadows.

Portraits in a Chinese Studio by Grace Lau

Grace Lau’s ‘Portraits in a Chinese Studio’ will be set up in the Mezzanine Gallery, a pop-up where visitors will be able to book a spot to pose for the camera at times during the exhibition’s run. photographs from two previous incarnations of the studio will surround the set-up. The idea behind the studio is rooted in issues about Imperialism and Oriental ‘othering’ and is inspired by the earliest portrait studios in China in the mid-19th century by Western travellers who photographed ‘exotic’ subjects for amusement. Lau’s studio includes mock Chinese furniture and an ‘Oriental’ backdrop, her own version of an old Chinese portrait studio which she uses to document diverse people as ‘exotic’ subjects.

Grace Lau, 21st Century Types

NIKON D810 · f/2.2 · 1/250s · 50mm · ISO500

Photographs of London Street Markets by Dorothy Bohm

‘Photographs of London Street Markets’ by Dorothy Bohm will present a glimpse into the vibrant atmosphere of London’s bustling food markets, highlighting the life of a bygone world. Some of the markets depicted include the old Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market, Smithfield, Billingsgate, Petticoat Lane, Portobello Road, Farringdon Road book market as well as Stalls in Camden Town and Hampstead.

Dorothy Bohm, Smithfield Market, famous Meat Market in London, 1970s

Modern Muse by Arpita Shah

‘Modern Muse’ by Arpita Shah is also going to be on show in the Mezzanine gallery with portraits that explore the identity and representation of South Asian women in contemporary Britain. This will be the first time this body of work will be shown in London.