A special archive display celebrating the renowned photography journal Ten.8 and its wider influence.
Launched in 1978, Ten.8 provided a forum for West Midlands-based photographers to come together and share images and ideas. It was described by key cultural studies scholar Stuart Hall as “the journal which has most systematically explored the relationship between how we represent the world photographically, the knowledge which these images produce and their implications for power and politics.”
The exhibition focuses on two editions of Ten.8, Black Image (1984) and Body Politics (1987), produced in collaboration with The Photographers’ Gallery. Alongside material from the Gallery’s archive, Ten.8 in Focus illustrates how the journal explored the importance of photography, and how pivotal and ahead of its time Ten.8 was during the 1980s. This exhibition marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Black Image issue.
By the time of the last edition, Critical Decade, in 1992, Ten.8 had become an internationally acclaimed journal and an influential meeting point for socially concerned creatives and facilitated direct access to Black Diasporic artists and writers. Beyond publishing Ten.8 became a studio for creative content and exhibitions.
Ten.8 in Focus: The legacy of Black Image and Body Politics is a snapshot of the dynamic and diverse ways Ten.8 explored ideas around power, representation, race and photography, which are all still relevant today. A series of collaborative events will examine Ten.8’s influence, including the partnership between Ten.8 and The Photographers’ Gallery in the 1980s. The display will include quotes from both the Black Image and Body Politics issues by leading artists, writers and scholars, including Barbara Kruger, C.L.R. James and Stuart Hall, and photographs by David A. Bailey, Derek Bishton and Horace Ové.
Ten.8 in Focus: The Legacy of Black Image and Body Politics is a collaboration between The Photographers' Gallery and International Curators Forum and is curated by Ten.8 editors Derek Bishton and Darryl Georgiou.
Listings
Ten.8 in Focus: The legacy of Black Image and Body Politics: Wed 09 Oct 2024 - Sun 23 Feb 2025
The Photographers’ Gallery,16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW
Tickets: Photographers' Gallery (accessacloud.com)
Also on show at The Photographers’ Gallery
Letizia Battaglia: Life, Love and Death in Sicily9 October - 23 February 2025
Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage: 9 October - 23 February 2025
Reimagined Landscapes: 13 September - 10 November2024
Further Information: Homepage | The Photographers Gallery