‘I was just an ordinary Black guy from the ghetto’: that’s how photographer Charlie Phillips describes himself.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Phillips arrived in the UK aged 11, settling in Notting Hill. After suffering great damage in World War II, it was one of the more affordable areas at the time – landlords built up houses and converted them into rooms to let out to accommodate an influx of migrants. Charlie recalls it being normal for multiple people to live in one room, himself sharing with five other people.
Phillips began his journey as a photographer aged 14, armed with nothing but a Kodak Retina camera left behind at a house party by an American soldier. Initially, he thought it would only be a short stay in the UK and wanted photos to take back to Jamaica to show what life was like here: documenting his environment, friends and family.
Decades later, Phillips still resides in London, now living in Brixton. Over the years, his photographs have been displayed in galleries around the world, including Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery. Yet, despite continuing his passion well into old age, Phillips’ work remains largely unpublished. That’s why he’s teaming up with Bluecoat Press to fundraise to release a beautifully curated photo book of his London street photography.
Book editor Tom Booth Woodger discovered Charlie’s work when studying photography at university. Frustrated with the lack of information out there surrounding him and always keeping him in the back of his mind, he managed to track Charlie down to pitch him the idea of putting a book together.
‘I want to ensure Charlie gets to be put on a pedestal next to some of the other great photographers of his time’, Woodger said. He hopes people will take away an ‘authentic sense of hope and community’ from the body of work.
Featuring iconic west London venues like the Cue Club in Paddington, which helped to establish Jamaican music in Britain, and the Piss House Pub, on the corner of Portobello Road, the book will act as a retrospective collection of Charlie’s British work, offering a glimpse into Black British lives that were ‘underrepresented and hidden’ for some time.
‘The project is long overdue – I’m happy to show work that has been under my bed for the past 50 years,’ Charlies says. He adds: ‘The institutions were [previously] uninterested in Black British history.’
Following his time in England during the ’60s all the way through to 2020 with a shot of the famed film director, Sir Steve McQueen, the majority of Phillips’ photos are taken in black and white, even those taken more recently. ‘Digital is for the youth,’ he says, noting he prefers to shoot on film because that’s where he got his start in photography.
The book, ‘Charlie Phillips — A Grassroots Legacy’, will be available from Bluecoats Press website and is set for release in Autumn of this year.
You can help support this great British photographer to get a chance to showcase his work by donating to the Kickstarter fundraising page.
