Windrush Portraits

“I just came over to see what London is like and to and to spend a couple of years, but I find myself overlong, I’ve been staying longer than I thought it would be. I’m still here, and I’m 90 now.”

Josephine



To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Windrush arrival in the UK, I partnered with Arts Bridge Charity and Bernie Grant Arts Centre to create a series of portraits of people who emigrated from the Caribbean to the UK in the 1950’s and ‘60’s - the Windrush Generation.

They were invited to move to the UK by the British government to fill a post war labour shortage, came to the UK full of hope and subsequently made lives and raised families in this country despite the racism and persecution they often faced. I photographed the elders at Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham, North London, and we also interviewed them to collect audio clips of their recollections of when they first arrived in the UK.