An award-winning photographer who created one of the most significant archives of Black British life and culture has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Birmingham City University (BCU). Born in Jamaica but a Birmingham resident from the age of 14, Dr. Vanley Burke said his decision to pick up a camera originated from a desire to “document the struggles of the Black community in Britain”.
The photographer, 73, was first given a camera by his mother as a present on his 10th birthday. He began to explore photography when he moved to the UK in 1965 to be with his parents.
His career has seen him travel to South Africa to document life there following the release of Nelson Mandela, appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs , received the Paul Hamlyn Award for his contribution to visual art, and had his images featured in television programmes and books.
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He said: “If you are constantly being told by your schoolteacher that you, as a people, had contributed nothing to human civilisation, it is not good to hear. I wanted to address this issue.
“I decided we needed to write our own history, to document our own history, because the life of Black people portrayed in the press wasn’t the life I was experiencing. I decided I would use photography as my tool.”
“I started taking photographs of anything and everything,” he said. “It wasn’t about me informing white people. It was to serve our purpose – the Black community from a historical perspective.”
One of his most iconic photos – ‘Boy with a flag’ – is of a young Black boy posing proudly with his bike in Handsworth Park, a Union Jack flying from the handlebars. “If the wind didn’t blow at the time, the photo wouldn’t exist,” said Vanley of the 1970 image. “It’s about the right place, the right time, the right execution.”
Vanley’s honorary doctorate from BCU is not his first. He has also been honoured for his work by Leicester and Wolverhampton.
But he said about his latest award, given for exceptional service to Birmingham and outstanding contribution to public life: “It’s from my hometown, so it means more.”
The Vanley Burke Archive is housed at the Library of Birmingham, while his flat in Nechells is also home to thousands of his images.
Offering advice to those following in his footsteps, Vanley urged: “Concentrate on what you have to do. Get rid of your television, your mobile phone, because they can steal your time.”