John Goto: Lovers' Rock

Autograph worked with John Goto over several years to bring to light his important Lovers' Rock series of photographs. These portraits, taken in 1977 at Lewisham Youth Centre, represent a crucial moment of affirmation, celebrating black British youth on the move. The series was unseen for more than 35 years and has gone on to influence both photography and fashion.

Goto called the series Lovers’ Rock after a musical sub-genre that grew out of the south London reggae scene during this period. The gentle intimacy of the portraits sit in stark contrast to the political upheaval taking place on the streets outside the Youth Centre. In the mid-1970s, the Lewisham and New Cross areas of south London became the focus of intense political activity by extreme right-wing groups. In Professor Paul Gilroy’s words “Racism always denies individuality to those it subordinates…Here in these images, the photographer…has allowed, even encouraged, his sitters to cultivate the dimensions of individual subjectivity that racism simply cannot accommodate.” ⁠

Texts by Mark Sealy; Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey; Professor Paul Gilroy; and John Goto.

Published by Autograph 2013
Edited by Mark Sealy and Renée Mussai
120 pages
45 full-page images from Lovers' Rock
22 x 23.2cm
Hardcover with foil and jacket
ISBN 978-899282-16-6

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