13 Facts About Vanley Burke

Vanley Burke was born on 1951 and is a British Jamaican photographer and artist.

Vanley Burke was born in St Thomas, Jamaica, in 1951.

Vanley Burke's photography sought to counteract any perception of negative or stereotypical imagery of black people found in mainstream media.

Vanley Burke's photographs represented members of the black community back to themselves in intimate portrayal and were taken from his perspective as an integral member of the community as opposed to basic documentary images perceived from "outsiders".

Vanley Burke's interests have expanded to include other communities in the city and their experiences.

Vanley Burke was a significant contributor of imagery to the Birmingham photography magazine and collective, Ten.

Vanley Burke's work has been used in documentaries, television programmes, books and on record sleeves such as UB40's "Geffrey Morgan".

The "Vanley Burke Archive" maintained by Birmingham City Council is a constantly growing photographic and documentary community resource.

Vanley Burke is still documenting the black community in the UK and has more recently worked on a number of projects including an exhibition and publication project documenting the Asian community in Birmingham.

In 2015, Vanley Burke recreated the front room of his home in Birmingham's Ikon Gallery, for a show characterised as "a living archive of untold black British history".

Vanley Burke was a guest on BBC Radio 4's programme Desert Island Discs, first broadcast on 4 November 2018, when he was interviewed by Lauren Laverne and explained his motivation for documenting culture and history.

Vanley Burke was the recipient of a 2022 Paul Hamlyn Award for his contribution to Visual Art.

Vanley Burke is a father to three sons, a grandfather to six children.