Photographer Neil Kenlock (born 1950) moved to London from Jamaica in 1963 and became determined to document black pride in the face of racial prejudice. Building on his background in protest photography, Kenlock brought the same sense of confidence to the colour photographs he took of British Caribbean people at home in the 1970s.

Photographs like this were taken for the sitter to send to relatives in the Caribbean to show that they had settled well in Britain. The compositions of these images recall studio portraiture, yet showcase the variety of material goods families owned and the modern homes they had made for themselves. The images evoke the styles of the 1970s and the eclectic decoration of many British Caribbean sitting rooms during this period.

The V&A acquired ten photographs by Kenlock, including a photograph of a man standing in the same room as this, as part of the Staying Power project. Photographs by Kenlock’s contemporaries Charlie Phillips and Armet Francis were also acquired as part of the 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.