A Lens on Liberation

In this new collection, Sealy arguesthat Western photography and its institutions are at a critical juncture, havingbeen forced to reckon with the medium’s colonial history by Black and globalmajority photographers, artists and cultural theorists who interrogate archivesfrom the perspective of the Other. Sealy engages the work of underrepresented Blackphotographers and visual artists who, since the period of decolonisation, havechallenged the Othering nature of the colonial camera, from Ernest Cole documentingApartheid and US anti-blackness to Armet Francis capturing the spirit ofCaribbean style in postwar Britain. As a curator, Sealy pays special attentionto the role of key photography festivals and exhibitions in providing a spacefor the work of African and diasporic artists and photographers who were andare challenging the colonial nature of photography’s origins to come to thefore.Sealy also explores the radical potential of photographyonce reclaimed and transformed by Black photographers and artists. From thequeer interpretations of Yoruba culture by Rotimi Fani-Kayode to the hauntingabsence/presence in the self-portraits of Hélène Amouzou, Sealy traces how thecamera turned inwards has transformed photography into a medium for exploringBlack subjectivity, and in turn a practice of resistance. The book includes a16-page portfolio of images at its centre, featuring artists Zora J Murff,Sandra Brewster and others.