James Barnor

James Barnor
Hon. FRPS, OV
Barnor in Leiden, Netherlands (2016)
Born
Frederick Seton James Barnor[1]

(1929-06-06) 6 June 1929 (age 95)
Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana)
NationalityGhanaian
Known forPhotography
Websitewww.jamesbarnor.org

James Barnor Hon. FRPS, OV (born 6 June 1929)[2] is a Ghanaian photographer who has been based in London since the 1990s. His career spans six decades, and although for much of that period his work was not widely known, it has latterly been discovered by new audiences. In his street and studio photography, Barnor represents societies in transition in the 1950s and 1960s: Ghana moving toward independence, and London becoming a multicultural metropolis.[3] He has said: "I was lucky to be alive when things were happening...when Ghana was going to be independent and Ghana became independent, and when I came to England the Beatles were around. Things were happening in the 60s, so I call myself Lucky Jim."[4] He was Ghana's first full-time newspaper photographer in the 1950s, and he is credited with introducing colour processing to Ghana in the 1970s.[5][6] It has been said: "James Barnor is to Ghana and photojournalism what Ousmane Sembène was to Senegal and African cinema."[7]

Barnor has spoken of how his work was rediscovered in 2007 during the "Ghana at 50" jubilee season by curator Nana Oforiatta-Ayim, who organised the first exhibition of his photographs at Black Cultural Archives (BCA).[8][9] Appreciation of his work as a studio portraitist, photojournalist and Black lifestyle photographer[10] has been further heightened since 2010 when a major solo retrospective exhibition of his photographs, Ever Young: James Barnor, was mounted at Rivington Place, London, followed by a series of exhibitions including in the United States and South Africa. His photographs were collated by the non-profit agency Autograph ABP during a four-year project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and in 2011 became part of the new Archive and Research Centre for Culturally Diverse Photography.[11]

Barnor's photographs have also in recent years had showings in Ghana,[12][13][14] France (Paris Photo 2011,[15] Galerie Baudoin Lebon;[16] Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière),[17] The Netherlands. The first monograph of his work, entitled James Barnor: Ever Young, was published in 2015, including an extensive conversation between Barnor and Margaret Busby with Francis Hodgson.[18]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Naidoo - Barnor at 90 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "James Barnor", Serpentine Galleries.
  3. ^ Alexandra Genova, "Party time! The photographer who captured the other swinging sixties", The Guardian, 29 November 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference LuckyJim was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Aarti wa Njoroge, "In Conversation with James Barnor, in Comparison with Malick Sidibé". Originally in AfricanColours, 8 May 2012. Reprinted. Archived 15 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine in Digital Photo Times.
  6. ^ James Barnor biography at Victoria and Albert Museum.
  7. ^ Tiffani Jones, "Secret History of the Black Pinup: Drum Magazine and James Barnor", Coffee Rhetoric, 23 August 2012.
  8. ^ "James Barnor: 'My advice to young photographers: fall in love with books'" Archived 10 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Photobook Bristol, 9 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Black Cultural Archives Launches Exciting Heritage Programme to Commemorate Ghana's Golden Jubilee", Community Archives and Heritage Group, 7 March 2007.
  10. ^ Kate Salter, "Colour me beautiful: James Barnor's photographs for Drum magazine", Fashion, The Telegraph, 7 December 2010.
  11. ^ "Work of Medway-trained photographer in new archive", BBC Kent, 7 December 2010.
  12. ^ "Photos: James Barnor 'Ever Young'", Okayafrica, 28 June 2012.
  13. ^ Qirv Ventures Brings GUBA award winning Photographer James Barnor On a Triumphant return Archived 19 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, GUBA, 7 June 2012.
  14. ^ "Ghana – A Heritage Ever Young", GHStreets.com.
  15. ^ "Paris Photo 2011: Analogue Nirvana" Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Lomography, 27 September 2011.
  16. ^ James Barnor at Baudoin Lebon.
  17. ^ Clémentine Mercier, "James Barnor, Flash-Backs Ghanéens" Archived 19 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Libération, 13 November 2015.
  18. ^ James Barnor; Francis Hodgson, Margaret Busby; Renée Mussai, Kobena Mercer, "A conversation: James Barnor, Margaret Busby and Francis Hodgson", Ever Young: Photographs of James Barnor, London, UK, and Paris, France: Clémentine de la Ferronière; Autograph ABP, 2015. ISBN 9782954226644.