Artist Eileen Perrier argues that a person is a person beyond social and cultural divides. In her exhibition a thousand small stories, she beautifully pieces them together.
In her work, she has always used photographic portraiture to forge connections between people, acknowledging the profound value of being seen.
Often creating makeshift studios, she brings her sitters together around shared experiences of kinship, interests, or place. Her work has evolved into a form of social engagement that powerfully visualises individuality, encouraging us to look beyond our divisions.
Perrier uses the tropes of 19th-century European and contemporary African studio portraiture to contemplate how class, cultural identity, and belonging are represented through the photographic portrait. Born and raised in London, the artist frequently encountered questions about her heritage, finding herself caught between her upbringing and her dual Ghanaian and Dominican diasporic heritage. This sense of ambiguity is central to Perrier's work, examining how identity can be shaped by both geographical and cultural contexts.
Perrier is dedicated to colour photography. In the "About" section of her website, she says: “(It) was my gateway into showing a vibrancy not readily found in the media's reportage coverage of Africa and Africans. Images which I encountered at this time were black-and-white imagery of Africa and Africans being affected by famine.”
Perrier’s first visit to Ghana, alongside her mother who had not been back home for over 30 years, made her feel more grounded in her identity. “It changed my understanding and relationship with what it meant to be a Londoner of African descent,” she writes.
About the artist
Eileen Perrier (b. 1974, London, UK) specialises in portraiture and has been a photographer and senior lecturer in photography since the 1990s. Her work has been widely exhibited, including at the Centre Pompidou (France), Hayward Gallery (UK), Tate Britain (UK), The Photographers' Gallery (UK), and The Whitechapel Gallery (UK). Perrier was an artist in residence at Light Work x Autograph (USA) and Kunsthalle Schirn (Germany). Her works are also represented in private and public collections, including the Arts Council England (UK), Autograph (UK), Foundling Museum (UK), Light Work (USA), Sindika Dokolo Foundation (Angola), Tate (UK), and Wedge Collection (Canada).
The exhibition at Autograph is curated by Bindi Vora. Entry is free!
Check here for more information and a sneak preview of the exhibition.
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