Now, five years on, and to mark the 75th anniversary and this major milestone, Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations, is a moving new photo-story which explores how the generations which followed the Windrush Generation are living their lives in the UK today.
Uniquely, this work explores and invites conversations around the different ways of passing down traditions, the continuity of heritage and intergenerational exchange.
The set of 70 colour photographs, which include nine themed photo stories, shine a light on both individuals, groups and organisations in south London, who together are doing so much to preserve their distinctive Caribbean heritage and traditions for current and future generations. Many are inspiring female-led narratives. The photographs portray an extraordinary level of intimacy and show the full range of human emotions, from great joy but also sadness and loss, reflecting the many changes since 2018, some of them personal and some as a result of world events. The exhibition opens with a new photo-story of 97-year-old Alford Gardner, one of just two known remaining adult passengers from that landmark 1948 voyage, who is enjoying a new level of recognition and fame since 2018.
It also continues the stories of some of the familiar faces who featured in Grover’s previous Windrush exhibition; the first generation of men and women from the Caribbean who played a crucial role in the creation of a multi-cultural Britain.
The exhibition fittingly ends with a display featuring a collage of 75 photos from the youngest generations – under 16s who have been invited to contribute a photograph of an artefact which is important to their families Caribbean ‘story’.
Additionally, the exhibition features the portraits, comprising both imagery and narrative, of ten inspiring individuals including Deborah Klass and Sandra Bynoe, two of the driving forces behind the Windrush Generation Legacy Association in Croydon; archivist Colin Brown who has lovingly documented ‘Lovers Rock’ a distinctive genre of reggae music in the UK; Caribbean frozen food entrepreneur Mark Richards; third generation twin sisters, Kerryn Ghann and Krystyna Antoine, NHS workers and mothers with young families; and Selena Carty founder of remembrance organisation BlackPoppyRose.
The exhibition fittingly ends with a display featuring a collage of 75 photos from the youngest generations – under 16s who have been invited to contribute a photograph of an artefact which is important to their families Caribbean ‘story’.
Grover, whose photographic passion is to celebrate daily life, people, ‘unsung heroes’ and local communities, and ‘to make the unseen seen’ has built up close and trusting relationships with his sitters. He says: “It has been a true privilege to spend time, once again, with this community; a community I hugely respect, admire and enjoy being with. And I am deeply indebted to all of those who participated in, and contributed to, the creation of Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations. Without their warm welcome, their kindness, their encouragement and their openness I could not have created this work. Just like Windrush: Portrait of a Generation, this is their story, and a story to celebrate and be proud of. I am just so grateful to have the opportunity to share it.”
Location: Clapham Library, Mary Seacole Centre, 91 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7DB
Date: 1st Jun 10:00 – 2nd Sep 17:00
More Information here
Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations will be on display for three months from 1 June until 2 September 2023, overlapping with ‘Windrush Day’ on 22 June, at the Clapham Library, situated in the heart of south London where so many of Jim’s subjects, who he has formed close bonds with over the years, still live. It is also where Behind The Shop Facade: The Life of Maurice Dorfman, Jim’s most recent photo-story, was exhibited in 2022 and which received national media coverage including by The Guardian and the BBC.
Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations has been curated by Katy Barron, Chair of the Board of Photofusion and Photo Oxford. She has curated numerous photographic exhibitions in the UK and abroad as well as most recently at Photo50 at the London Art Fair. This is the 3rd exhibition that Katy has curated for Jim, including Windrush: Portrait of a Generation in 2018.