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The launch of a major new publication offering fresh insight into the artist's practice and legacy
Autograph
Rivington Place
London EC2A 3BA, UK
Autograph's events are very popular. Book a ticket to join us on the night
The book will be available to purchase on the night. The ticket price will be deducted from the book price
Join us for a special evening celebrating the launch of Autograph’s major new publication Rotimi Fani-Kayode: Tranquility of Communion, bringing the life and work of one of the most significant figures in the history of Black photography into fuller view.
New research, previously unpublished photographs and never-before-shown drawings from his student years come together in a closely observed and tenderly crafted reflections on Fani-Kayode’s practice - one that expanded the terms of Black and queer self-representation. Conceived as a photographic communion, the book considers the continuing force of the artist's work and the ways it redefines what it means to see through an exiled, diasporic and queer lens.
For this special launch event, Autograph’s Director Professor Mark Sealy, curator of the touring exhibition Tranquility of Communion and co-editor of the publication, will be joined by photographic artist and archival curator Dr. Ajamu X, who knew and worked closely with Fani-Kayode, and modelled for him in the late 1980s. Writer, editor and critic Evan Moffitt will also broaden the discussion, drawing on his writing and research on the artist - from the neo-baroque sensuality of the photographs and their relationship to Yoruba cosmology to the artist’s challenge to the right-wing politics of 1980s Britain.
The presentations will be followed by an audience Q&A and drinks reception, with an opportunity to purchase the publication. Visitors will also be able to explore Autograph’s new exhibitions Our Bodies Have Been Bridges and Charan Singh: Your Tongue in My Mouth.
Dr. Ajamu X (Hons FRPS) is a darkroom / fine art photographic artist, archival curator and co-founder of Spit & Spider Press. His photographs, rooted in process, unapologetically celebrate the body ,the erotic senses and sensuality/sensuousness. Working across both
analogue and digital , his practice centres traditional 19th Century printing processes, in particular the Platinum print.
His visual philosophy refuses the usual ‘flattening out’ of images by black queer photographers into staid notions of identity thinking, representation, or a sociopolitical framing. Instead, he foregrounds the sensual - material attributes of the wet darkroom, the photographic act and print.
His work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, and alternative spaces nationally and
internationally, and is held in collections including Tate Britain, the Arts Council Collection, the Walker Gallery, Autograph - ABP, the Martin Parr Foundation, and the National Portrait Gallery. In 2022, he was canonised in his home town, Huddersfield by The Transpennine
Travelling Sisters as The Patron Saint of Darkrooms and received an honorary fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society.
In 2025, Tate published a photographic monograph on his work.
Dr Mark Sealy OBE, RPS Outstanding Service Award; Executive Director of Autograph (1991 -) and Professor, Photography, Rights and Representation at University Arts London - London College of Communication. Sealy is interested in the relationship between art, photography and social change, identity politics, race, and human rights. He gained his PhD from Durham University, England.
He has written for many of the world’s leading photographic journals, produced numerous artist publications, curated exhibitions, and commissioned photographers and filmmakers worldwide. In addition, he is an advisor (management + committees) to several leading cultural institutions, including Tate, Paul Mellon Centre for the Studies in British Art, Art Fund, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, World Press Photo, and the International Centre of Photography in New York, USA.
Lawrence and Wishart have published Sealy’s critical writings on photography. Photography: Race, Rights and Representation, published 2022 and Decolonising the Camera: Photography in Racial Time, published 2019.
Evan Moffitt is a writer, editor, and critic. He is currently Senior Digital Editor at The Observer. His writing appears in The Guardian, The New York Times, Financial Times, Artforum, Art in America, Art Review and Aperture, among other publications.
He has held editorial roles at several magazines, including Digital Editor at BUTT and Senior Editor at Frieze, and co-authored books on numerous artists, including Hélio Oiticica, Salman Toor, Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Barbara Wagner.
He holds a BA in Art History from UCLA and an MA in Research Architecture from Goldsmiths University. His paper Rotimi Fani-Kayode's Ecstatic Antibodies: Libidinal politics, race, and desire was published in 2015 by Transition.
The ticket price for this event is £5. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If this ticket price is unaffordable for you please get in touch with Ishy at ishy@autograph-abp.co.uk about free ticketing options.
Autograph's events are popular, and often sell out. We recommend booking a ticket in advance. If you need to cancel your ticket for any reason, you can receive a refund up to 24 hours before the start of the event. You do not need to bring your paper ticket to the event.
We look forward to welcoming you to Autograph. For more details about visiting, have a look at our Visit Us page, it has information about getting to the gallery, safety and accessibility.
Autograph welcomes people with all types of disabilities.
Autograph's events are popular. We highly recommend booking in advance.
Our building and entrance is step free. A wheelchair accessible lift goes to all floors.
The talk will take place in Gallery 1, on the ground floor.
Refreshments will be served after the talk in the studio.
This event is seated.
Please note that photography and/or filming will take place at this event. Images from this event may be used by Autograph and external press for marketing and promotional use, including: printed and online publicity, social media, press releases, or other use.
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Banner image: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Untitled, n.d. Courtesy Autograph, London
About the Speakers: 1) Ajamu X by Mikael Owunna. 2) Mark Sealy. Photograph courtesy of Steve Pyke. 3) Evan Moffitt.
Images on Page: 4) Autograph, London. Photograph by Kate Elliott
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Autograph is a space to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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