Neil Kenlock was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica in 1950 where he was brought up by his grandmother until 1963 when, aged 12, he immigrated to England to join his parents who had settled in London 14 years earlier. After working for photographic studios, in 1973 he was appointed as staff photographer for 'West Indian World', one of the first national black British newspapers; in 1979 he co-founded the pioneering Black lifestyle magazine 'Root' and was also co-founder of Choice FM, the first radio station in the UK granted a licence to broadcast to the black community. As an activist, Kenlock became the British Black Panther movement's official photographer, documenting meetings and campaigns as well as anti-racist protests and demonstrations.
Photographer Neil Kenlock was born in 1950 in Port Antonio, Jamaica where he was raised by his grandmother until 1963 when, at the age of 12, he immigrated to England to join his parents who had settled in London 14 years earlier. He later reflected that, ‘every Jamaican wanted to come to Britain in those days because they thought it was where all things were great and fantastic’, elaborating that, ‘my expectations were that I’d have a big house’ (Neil Kenlock quoted in, Leah Sinclair, ‘They wanted to jail us all’- Black Panthers photographer Neil Kenlock looks back, The Guardian, 7 August 2018). As a result, he was shocked to discover that he and his five siblings’ new home was a terraced house in Brixton. In the late 1960s Kenlock developed a passion for photography. He recalled that, ‘I was working in the West End and I saw a guy on the television, and they were saying he photographed famous people and his name was David Bailey. I said to myself, ‘I want to be like him’ […] So I got a camera and started taking pictures’ (Neil Kenlock, The Guardian, 7 August 2018). Recognising that ‘the images of black people I was seeing were not up to standard’ and that ‘Black people never had any personality, any strength’, he insisted that, ‘That’s not what I wanted my subjects to look like’ and so ‘I decided then that I would never photograph anyone I didn’t see strength and determination in’ (Neil Kenlock, Museum of London website). After working for photographic studios, in 1973 Kenlock was appointed as a staff photographer for West Indian World, one of the first national black British newspapers. At this time Kenlock encountered racism in London and decided, after a particular incident at a club in Streatham that, in his own words, he was going to ‘fight against racism and discrimination for the rest of my life. But I didn’t know how to do that. So some days later, in Brixton, I saw some people giving out leaflets. That was the Black Panthers’ (Neil Kenlock, The Guardian, 7 August 2018). ‘The movement in the UK was about educating people,’ Kenlock says, ‘They were the first to understand the system, capitalism and how people looked at racism and discrimination’ (Neil Kenlock, The Guardian, 7 August 2018). As a result, he became the British Black Panther movement's official photographer, documenting meetings and campaigns as well as anti-racist protests and demonstrations.
In 1979, Kenlock co-founded the pioneering Black lifestyle magazine Root (‘A British Ebony, only more connected to how people live in Britain’), which was published until 1987, and subsequently became co-founder of Choice FM, the first radio station in the UK granted a licence to cater specifically to the black community. In addition, as a professional photographer he spent two decades working within the advertising and editorial sectors, specialising in fashion, beauty, celebrities and the cultural lifestyles of Black Britons. His photographic archive features key figures and leaders in the black community including civil rights activists Olive Morris, Althea Le Cointe, Audley Baines, Darcus Howe and Lionel Morrison. It also includes photographs of international music superstars Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Eartha Kitt, and Eddy Grant; writer, James Baldwin and boxer, Muhammad Ali, as well as icons of reggae music, namely Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker and John Holt, and political personalities such as Diane Abbott, Michael Manley and Indira Gandhi. In 2017 his work featured in the survey exhibition, Stan Firm Inna Inglan: Black Diaspora in London, 1960-1970, Tate Britain. In 2018, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, which brought one of the first large cohorts of West Indian immigrants to the UK, the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) showed 70 of Kenlock's photographs in the exhibition Expectations: The untold story of Black community leaders. Curated by his daughter Emelia, and funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Expectations aimed ‘to give access to examples of black leadership, as well as archive material outside of the normal educational environment’ (Neil Kenlock quoted in Leslie Manasseh, Expectations, Brixton Blog, 4 August 2018).
In 2021 Kenlock’s work was shown as part of a survey exhibition at Tate Britain, Between the Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now, the same year in which he was granted a solo show at Chatham House, London. Joseph Osayande, of Chatham House’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion working group, said: ‘Neil’s photographs capture the essence of black history in Britain: people; communities and movements. His work is a powerful time capsule documenting the often-overlooked Windrush generation and the struggle and adversity black Britons faced. His photographs not only capture some of the key figures of the movement but also the pride of an often-forgotten generation and their fight for civil rights and equality’ (Joseph Osayande, Chatham House website). Neil Kenlock lives and works in London. His work is held in numerous UK public collections including Autograph, The Museum of London, Tate and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Neil Kenlock]
Publications related to [Neil Kenlock] in the Ben Uri Library