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Bagga, vocalist with Matumbi, Hackney, London, 1978
Shelton, Syd, born 1947 - Enlarge image
Bagga, vocalist with Matumbi, Hackney, London, 1978
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
Hackney (photographed)
- Date:
1978 (photographed)
2012 (printed) - Artist/Maker:
Shelton, Syd, born 1947 (photographer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Gelatin silver print
- Credit Line:
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
- Museum number:
E.318-2013
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F, case SP, shelf 6
Born in Yorkshire in 1947, photographer Syd Shelton documented resistance to racism in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s. Shelton became the official photographer for Rock Against Racism, a collective of political activists and musicians that organised concerts with an anti-racist message across the country. The popular British reggae group Matumbi were one of the bands to play at these events, alongside punk bands like The Clash.
This photograph depicts Matumbi’s lead singer Bevin ‘Bagga’ Fagan (1954-2008) offstage in London, where the band first formed. Bagga’s defiant stance suggests the need to confront racist attitudes on the street as well as through music in order to create an equal future for black and white people. This kind of direct action was realised in a wave of political demonstrations during this period.
The V&A acquired three of Shelton’s photographs as part of the Staying Power project. Staying Power is a five year partnership between the V&A and Black Cultural Archives. The project aims to explore black British experience from the 1950s to the 1990s through photographs acquired by the V&A and oral histories conducted by Black Cultural Archives.
