Charlie Phillips (photographer)

Ronald 'Charlie' Phillips (1944-) is a Jamaican-born restaurateur, photographer, and documenter of black London. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Phillips came to London in 1956 and began his photographic career when he was given a Kodak Brownie by a black American serviceman.

Life and work

Phillips' photographs have appeared in Stern, Harper’s Bazaar, Life and Vogue, but he is best known for his photographs of West London during the period of West Indian migration to London. His 1991 book of photographs, Notting Hill In The Sixties, introduced by Mike Phillips includes photographs of everyday life in the area, including poor housing conditions, musical entertainment and political activism. During the 1980s, Phillips also took photographs documenting West Indian funerals at Kensal Green Cemetery. Between his career as a magazine photographer and the revival of interest in his work, Phillips ran Smokey Joe's Diner, a restaurant in Wandsworth.

Notable works

Phillips' photo Notting Hill Couple appears on the cover of the CD London Is the Place for Me Vol.2: Calypso Kwela Highlife and Jazz from Young Black London.

Appearances in Film and Television

Rootical, a film by Nike Hatzidimon about Phillips' life won the Best First Film Award at The Portobello Film Festival in 2006.

Neighbourhood Tales: Black And White, broadcast in October 2003, in the Channel Four Neighbourhood Tales slot covered Phillips' life and work.

References

• Phillips, Mike; Phillips, Charlie (1991). Notting Hill in the sixties. London: Lawrence Wishart. ISBN 0-85315-751-0. 
• Portobello Film Festival Report 2006
• London Is the Place for Me Vol.2: Calypso Kwela Highlife and Jazz from Young Black London at MusicBrainz

External links

• Neighbourhood Tales: Black And White at the British Film Institute's SIFT database.
• 'A Black Funeral' by Charlie Phillips at the Museum of London's Postcodes Project
• Charlie Phillips biography at Nicky Akehurst Creative Management
• Charlie Phillips gets 'Rootical' in London's Portobell Road at Black Art in America blogiste

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Name	Phillips, Charlie
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Date of birth	1944
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