Portobello Road
Photograph
1974 (photographed)
1974 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Photographer Charlie Phillips moved to London from Jamaica in 1956 and began to document life in his local community. His photographs of people and places associated with Notting Hill depict both significant and everyday moments in the area’s history. Displays of black heritage became commonplace in Notting Hill’s multicultural community by the 1970s. Alongside annual celebrations of Caribbean culture in events like the Notting Hill Carnival, a sense of black pride was also increasingly evident in clothing styles, such as the African head wrap worn by the woman in the centre of this photograph.
The V&A acquired ten photographs by Charlie Phillips 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.
The V&A acquired ten photographs by Charlie Phillips 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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Portobello Road (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Gelatin silver print |
| Brief description | Photograph by Charlie Phillips, 'Portobello Road', gelatin silver print, London, 1974 |
| Physical description | A black and white photograph of a crowd of people towards the corner of a street. In the central foreground there is a black woman with her hair bound in cloth wearing sunglasses, a long skirt and wedge shoes, carrying a handbag. She is stood talking to a man who has his back turned holding a camera and a roll of paper under his arm. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Gallery label | Text label for the exhibition, 'Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience, 1950s-1990s
16 February – 24 May 2015
Charlie Phillips (born 1944)
Portobello Road, 1974
Westbourne Park Tube Station, 1967
Notting Hill Couple, 1967
The Pisshouse Pub, 1969
Big Maybelle, Cue Club, 1966
Cue Club Regulars, 1966
Phillips moved from Jamaica to Notting Hill in 1956.
This area of London had a large Caribbean community
following mass migration after the Second World War.
Phillips documented local life using a Kodak Brownie
camera that he had been given by an African-American
serviceman. His photographs provide a visual record of the
influence of the growing black population on this part of
London during the 1960s and ’70s.
Gelatin silver prints
Museum nos. E.260, 261, 264, 266 to 268-2011(16/02/2015-24/05/2015) |
| Credit line | Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. |
| Object history | The V&A acquired this photograph 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. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Photographer Charlie Phillips moved to London from Jamaica in 1956 and began to document life in his local community. His photographs of people and places associated with Notting Hill depict both significant and everyday moments in the area’s history. Displays of black heritage became commonplace in Notting Hill’s multicultural community by the 1970s. Alongside annual celebrations of Caribbean culture in events like the Notting Hill Carnival, a sense of black pride was also increasingly evident in clothing styles, such as the African head wrap worn by the woman in the centre of this photograph. The V&A acquired ten photographs by Charlie Phillips 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. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Roots to Reckoning; the photography of Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock and Charlie Phillips
Roots to Reckoning; the photography of Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock and Charlie Phillips (London : Seed Publications, 2005) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.260-2011 |
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| Record created | July 12, 2011 |
| Record URL |
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