From Negative Stereotype to Positive Image

From Negative Stereotype to Positive Image was a 1993 photographic exhibition of work by four Birmingham photographers: Sir Benjamin Stone (1838–1914), Ernest Dyche (1887–1973), Vanley Burke (born 1951) and Claudette Holmes (born 1962). The exhibition was one of the first to explore debates about photography, anthropology and the representation of race. It was shown at Birmingham Central Library before touring to other venues in the United Kingdom and United States.^[1]

The exhibition contained photographs taken between the 1890s and the 1990s, and related them to other material artefacts of the time. It brought out contrasts between the photographic practices of the 'imperial gaze' and more recent photodocumentary of Black British people in Birmingham.^[2]

Birmingham Central Library holds an archive of material relating to the exhibition.^[1]

References

1. Peter James (2002). "From Negative Stereotype to Positive Image". In Alison Donnell (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 119–120. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
2. Ian Grovesnor (2013). "From the 'Eye of History' to a 'Second Gaze': The Visual Archive and the Marginalized in the History of Education". In Joyce Goodman; Gary McCulloch; William Richardson (eds.). Social Change in the History of British Education. Routledge. pp. 216–17. ISBN 978-1-317-99147-2.

Further reading

• Edwards, E. (1996). "From Negative Stereotype to Positive Image". Photography Quarterly. 68: 16–20.
• James, Peter (1998). "Rethinking Representation: Photographic Archives and Exhibitions in Birmingham Central Library". In Wright, S. (ed.). Cultural Diversity and Citizenship: Report of the Joint UNESCO/University of Birmingham Seminar. Birmingham: Department of Cultural Studies and Sociology, University of Birmingham.
• James, Peter (1997). "Ethnographic images in Birmingham Central Library". History of Photography. 21 (1): 81.
• Morris, A. (1993). "From Negative Stereotype to Positive Image". Autograph. 94: 2–3.