Tate has announced the launch of the Tate Photography Series, a new publishing programme providing an introduction to some of the most important and exciting photographers at work today. Four titles will be published each year, all connected through a common theme. The first four books, on Liz Johnson Artur, Sheba Chhachhi, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and Sabelo Mlangeni explore community and solidarity in distinct ways.
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen was born in Finland and studied in London, then moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1960s. She has been based in the North East of England ever since, deeply rooted in the local community. Focusing on two of her photographic series, this book captures a working-class neighborhood and reveals the devastating impact that the redevelopment of Newcastle’s East End had on the community, but also the moments of joy experienced in daily life.
Liz Johnson Artur presents images from her series Time Don’t Run Here, made during the Black Lives Matter protests throughout the late spring of 2020 in London. Johnson Artur is a Ghanaian-Russian photographer and artist based in London whose work documents the lives of Black people in Africa and from across the African Diaspora, more recently focusing on the richness and complexity of Black British life.
Sheba Chhachhi is a photographer, women's rights activist and an installation artist based in New Delhi. The powerful photographs reproduced in her book are selected from three major series, co-curated with her subjects. Interweaving the mythic and the social, her work, as she puts it, ‘is really about opening up a conversation, in the process of creating as well as sharing, to invite people to think about personal, social and public concerns, primarily around feminism and ecology.’
Sabelo Mlangeni is based in South Africa and works collaboratively with the people he photographs to tell the stories of communities on the periphery of society. He has focused on Johannesburg, as well as the rural areas surrounding his hometown of Driefontein. Mlangeni’s work seeks to re-center themes of friendship, love and joy in the face of ever-present risk. Above all, his images tell stories of seeking out your people, choosing a family and building a home, wherever you find yourself.
Each title is priced at £12. Details here: https://shop.tate.org.uk/books/tate-photography-series
Photograph: Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Kids with Collected Junk Near Byker Bridge (Byker),1971
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