In 1979, three friends set up a photography studio outside their work place; a terraced house on Grove Lane in the inner-city neighbourhood, Handsworth. Signs written in English, Punjabi & Urdu invited passers-by to stop and take their own self-portraits using a long cable release attached to the camera-mounted tripod. The studio was set up to document the people living and working in the community at the time; with nearly 500 people stopping to take part in this early-age selfie project.
40 years later, these never-seen before images are on being exhibited at the MAC, presenting a unique look into the diverse, vibrant & multi-cultural community built on the migrants that came from the West Indies, Bangladesh, Pakistan & India in the 1940s & 50s.
The exhibition runs from Saturday 23rd March until June 2nd and will form part of The IKON Gallery’s Migrant Festival celebrating Birmingham’s diverse roots & history.
