Book Review: Shining Lights Black Women Photographers in 1980s-’90s Britain
Joy Gregory, Autoportrait, 1990 / 2006, from Shining Lights by Joy Gregory (ed.) (MACK, 2024). Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Written by Makenna Karas
Photo Edited by Kelly Woodyard
“As Black women, we have constantly endured other people telling our stories or explaining to us what we mean,” writes British artist Joy Gregory in the introduction to her book “Shining Lights: Black Women Photographers in 1980s-’90s Britain”. Centered around unearthing and illuminating a generation of Black female artists who were swept under the rug of the photography world, Gregory’s book is a labor of love and devotion that allocates space for a generation of ignored female artists to tell their stories. Born out of years of work of reaching out and inviting artists to share their stories prior to the ease of the internet, it is the product of a project that was conceived in the 1980s and has now materialized with poignant grace.
Each page is stained with authenticity and individualism, freedom and pride, rewriting the narratives carelessly sewn into the fabric of what it meant to be a Black female artist at the end of the twentieth century. Often overlooked and put down as artists in 1980s Britain, the book reveals the raging determination, pride, and hard work these women put into their practice despite exclusion and ridicule. ` It showcases the counterculture of photography that emerged, where new methods and ideologies were born, forever changing the otherwise sterile, largely homogeneous, face of photography. Photographs were ceasing to be seen as raw documentation and more as highly biased and personal explorations of one’s perceptions of the world.
Carole Wright, ‘Design Cut’ haircut by Twin Barbers, Brixton, 1992, from Shining Lights by Joy Gregory (ed.) (MACK, 2024). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
In other words, they began to be seen as storytellers. Gregory speaks to this when she writes, "Voice is an essential element of this book because for decades we have not been heard." Images such as “4” and “15” exemplify that voice through their intimate portrayals of Black sisterhood. One depicts a casual living room setting of women relaxing with one another, cheeky smiles plastered across their faces. The space is filled with love, safety, and connection. You can feel the bond that connects each to the other. Similarly, “15” reveals two women engaged in what appears to be the sharing of a secret, an iconic pillar of female friendship. Each smiles with brilliant confidence, basking in the glow of their beauty.
Jennie Bapiste, Portrait of two girls from a series for Fashion Designer Wale Adeyemi MBE, 1995, from Shining Lights by Joy Gregory (ed.) (MACK, 2024). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Other shots are more solemn, telling stories that carry the weight of a history that extends far beyond the frame. “21” portrays a Black woman staring into the lens as she peels a film off the skin of her face. With a bare face and bare shoulders, it focuses on her skin and what it means to touch and pull apart the exterior casing of a body. Her eyes dare you to watch her tear at her own flesh, violently, yet gracefully, exploring what it means to dissect one’s outer skin. There is a pain in her expression that channels the history of discrimination and cruelty that the Black community has been subjected to purely for the color of their skin, that outer casing that this woman is pulling apart for you to see. Powerful and haunting with its raw beauty, the image channels the immensity of this book and the importance of the voice it gives to a generation of Black female artists that went far too long to have their stories untold.
Cristina Piza, Salón de Belleza, 1995, from Shining Lights by Joy Gregory (ed.) (MACK, 2024). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
