The photographer who shot Britain’s Black Panthers
- Text by Natty Kasambala
- Photography by Neil Kenlock
![The photographer who shot Britain’s Black Panthers](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Olive-Morris-anti-discrimination-womens-and-squatters-rights-campaigner-C2A9-Neil-Kenlock_2023-03-27-105008_twum.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Neil Kenlock’s portraits of black Britons during the ’60s and ’70s were a stark contrast to the passive, personality-free depictions that had come before. Instead, his subjects were central, bold, and unafraid to meet your eye.
The London photographer was primarily determined with battling the constant challenges of discrimination, and his goal was to champion those without a voice.
He did so the best way he knew how: storytelling. Inspired by the Black Panther movement in the States – and enticed by a canvasser in Brixton for their British equivalent – Kenlock attended one meeting and left as the official photographer of the British Black Panthers movement.
“America was our inspiration,” he recalls. “We read their books and tried to follow their mantras. But at that time that they had weapons, all we had were the tongues in our mouths.”
In 1979, he founded The Root, a black lifestyle magazine. Over a decade later, in 1990, he helped launch Choice FM (now Capital Xtra), the first licensed station solely for music of black origin, and a platform he used to actively campaign against knife and gun crime.
When it came to his photographic career, Kenlock’s work was a response to a pattern of weak or non-existent portrayals of black people within the press and media. He countered with this with authentic representations of political figures, activists and community leaders.
“Black people never had any personality, any strength, always looking down,” he remembers, with mild incredulity. “That’s not what I wanted my subjects to look like.” Instead, he says he used his photos to capture a humanity within the marginalised peoples, making it near impossible to ignore – let alone reject or deny.
Fast forward 40 years, and his work still succeeds in its initial objectives. Celebrated in a new exhibition at Brixton’s Black Cultural Archives (his first solo show in over 10 years), over 70 of Kenlock’s photographic images will be featured in celebration of the 70-year anniversary since the Empire Windrush arrival into Great Britain.
In the wake of revelations regarding the UK government’s betrayals of the Windrush generation, Kenlock’s lens provides a unique window into the experience of Britain’s first-generation immigrants. Commenting on the scandal, Kenlock’s response is to-the-point: “Sorry is an easy word to say – ‘sorry’ and ‘we’re going to do something about it.’”
To him – and a large majority of the country – it seems baffling to remain silent on the subject of historical oppression, especially when the results of it are still so apparent in our society. For the sake of unity, as well as prospects in jobs, education and housing, an acceptance of guilt is of urgent necessity. (“That’s all we want… and it’s important for the rest of the nation to hear it from the government as well.”)
To illustrate his point, he states an age-old, succinct – yet heartbreaking – example of the ever-pervasive consequences of slavery: “Because my name is Neil Kenlock, but that’s not actually my name. My name’s African. I don’t know my name, but it’s not Neil Kenlock.”
The photographer’s work also documents the initial ripples of black leadership in this country, and explores how they paved the way for the incredible talents of today. (He captures the broadcaster Darcus Howes and the politically trailblazing Lord Pitts, for example, who preceded the likes of David Lammy and Edward Enninful). By highlighting the past generations of movers and shakers, he provides a much-needed context to the existence of immigrant generations here, both present and future – an existence that he views as both promising and inherently political.
Referencing the Reparations March that took place in Brixton in June this year, Kenlock says that he hopes these events divert the youth from negative influences and inspire them to “use their lens to tell the story” in the same way he did and continues to do. And, of the current political climate, his observation is brief: “I can see that the temperature is rising.”
His final message is that as long as we make ourselves valuable to the movements we truly believe in, the opportunities to communicate will follow. With a sense of satisfaction and slight wonderment, he concludes by considering the scale of his achievements. “I mean, 30 years ago I couldn’t tell this story. But I’m doing it now.”
![](https://images.huckmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Steve-Barnard-first-black-BBC-radio-presenter-with-a-reggae-music-show-%C2%A9-Neil-Kenlock.jpeg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
![](https://images.huckmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Olive-Morris-anti-discrimination-womens-and-squatters-rights-campaigner-%C2%A9-Neil-Kenlock.jpeg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Expectations: The Untold Story of Black British Community Leaders in the 1960s and 1970s is showing at London’s Black Cultural Archives from 7 August – 28 September, 2018.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
![“Struggle helps people come together”: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Sharon-Van-Etten-The-Attachment-Theory-2025-01-please-credit-Susu-Laroche.png?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
“Struggle helps people come together”: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Huck’s February interview — To hear more about the release of the indie darling’s first collaborative album, we caught up with her and Devra Hoff to hear about the record, motherhood in music and why the ’80s are back,
Written by: Isaac Muk
![Nxdia: “Poems became an escape for me”](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Nxdia-web-header.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Nxdia: “Poems became an escape for me”
What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s Egyptian-British alt-pop shapeshifter Nxdia.
Written by: Nxdia
![Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/LIMO_10.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines
The Ride of a Lifetime — Wanting to marry a love of cars and photography, Kathy Shorr worked as a limousine driver in the ’80s to use as a studio on wheels. Her new photobook explores her archive.
Written by: Miss Rosen
![Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/AL-GOLDSTEIN.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square
Peep Man — Before its LED-beaming modern refresh, the Manhattan plaza was a hotbed for seedy transgression. A new memoir revisits its red light district heyday.
Written by: Miss Rosen
![In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/IC3PEAK-head.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet
Coming Home — Having once been held up as a symbol of Russian youth activism and rebellion, the experimental duo are now living in exile. Their latest album explores their new reality.
Written by: Isaac Muk
![Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Huck_Newsletter_January_Collage_V1-1.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.
Written by: Emma Garland