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Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund
Since its foundation in 1988, Autograph has collected photographic material which reflects our mission: to use photography to explore questions of cultural identity, race, representation, human rights and social justice. Our unique photography collection charts the contributions of diverse cultures in Britain over two centuries, a living archive of thousands of prints, negatives and slides; archive film; and digital and analogue contact sheets plus related ephemera.
Resilient Heritage builds on the success of three previous National Lottery Heritage Fund grants to support collection development projects which have enabled Autograph to significantly extend its collection and engage a wide public and professional audience. The project has allowed Autograph to catalogue and care for our collection, and share it online and physically.
At the heart of Resilient Heritage is consolidation: ensuring Autograph's collection is secured into the future by improving our collection standards and systems, as well as ensuring knowledge about the collection is preserved.
We've input thousands of text entries into our collection database
From our collection to exhibitions in the UK and abroad
On Autograph's website from our collection
Of webpages sharing work from Autograph's collection
At our online panel event about commissioning artists and diversifying collections
A new outdoor display on Autograph's building will launch 5 January 2023
The Collection has been re-sleeved and re-boxed to improve standards of care and conservation
As part of the project, we have implemented a new collections management system
A free outdoor display showcasing photographs that share the journeys of the Windrush generation. Launches 5 January 2023 at Autograph.
Read more
Considering how we can work together towards diversifying our national collections and support artists in the making, and placing, of new works.
Watch back 
Design for Journeys to Hope collection display at Autograph
Works by Ingrid Pollard in Autograph's collection discussed at our online event Through A Different Lens
Works by Mahtab Hussain on display at Gallery Oldham, UK
Works by Omar Victor Diop on loan to Fotografiska, Sweden
Collection storage at Autograph
Works by Rotimi Fani-Kayode on loan to the Barbican, UK
An Autograph commission by Zanele Muholi on loan to Spelman College, USA
Works by Rotimi Fani-Kayode on loan to Georgetown University, USA
Cataloguing works in the new collection content management system
Works by Aida Silvestri on loan to the Museum of Sex, USA
Works by Raphael Albert toured to MAC Birmingham, UK
40+ works by James Barnor were loaned to Serpentine Galleries, UK
Caring for the collection at Autograph
Works from Autograph's collection by Lina Iris Viktor on loan at Fotografiska, Estonia
Ten artist commissions from Autograph's collection on tour to Impressions Gallery, UK
Our collection discussed at the Through A Different Lens online event
On our website, Autograph has been sharing more of our collection. View a selection of artist commissions and online galleries from the collection below.
During Resilient Heritage, Autograph lent many artworks from our collection to institutions in the UK and abroad. Browse highlights from our collections loan programme below.
The entire team at Autograph worked on Resilient Heritage, and without each staff member's work and input this project would not have been possible. Special thanks to collections consultant Yunsun Choi.
With thanks to National Lottery players
Image credits:
Collection display at Autograph: Some of the thousands disembarking from the liner Begona at Southampton shortly before the Commonwealth Immigration Act came into force. 2nd July 1962 [detail]. Courtesy TopFoto.
Online event: Zanele Muholi, Bayephi III, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, 2017 [detail]. Commissioned by Autograph © and courtesy Zanele Muholi.
The Project in Pictures: 1) Installation image from Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail The Dark Lioness, Spelman College, Atlanta. 2018. Photograph by Mike Jensen. Courtesy Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. 2) Installation image from James Barnor: Accra/London - A Retrospective, Serpentine Galleries, UK. 2021. Photograph by Zoë Maxwell. Courtesy Serpentine. 3) Installation image from Mahtab Hussain: YOU GET ME?, Gallery Oldham, Manchester. 2019. Courtesy Gallery Oldham. 4) Installation image from Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989), Georgetown University, Washington. 2022. Courtesy Georgetown University. 5) Installation image from Omar Victor Diop, Fotografiska, Sweden. 2022-2023. Courtesy Fotografiska. 6) Installation image from Lina Iris Viktor: Dark Testament, Fotografiska, Estonia. 2020. Courtesy Fotografiska. 7) Installation image from Reclaiming & Making: Art, Desire, Violence, Museum of Sex, New York. 2021-2022. Courtesy Museum of Sex. 8) Installation image from Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography, Barbican Art Gallery, London. 2020. Courtesy Barbican Art Gallery. 9) Installation image from Raphael Albert: Miss Black and Beautiful, Midlands Art Cenre, Birmingham. 2018. Courtesy Midlands Art Centre.
Making the Collection More Visible Online: Please click into each page to view the full commission
Collection on Loan: Please click into each page to view the full commission
Autograph is a place 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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