Roy Mehta

Born in 1968, the British photographer and lecturer Roy Mehta is a prominent contemporary voice in documentary author photography in the UK. His parents emigrated from India to London in the 1960s. His visual practice focuses intensely on issues of cultural identity, migration and the complex dynamics of coexistence in urban spaces. His historical significance is evident in exhibitions such as his major retrospective at the London Borough of Culture, as well as in the presence of his works in renowned public collections, including Historic England, the Library of Birmingham, the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, and the British cultural organisation Autograph ABP.

The ‘Harlesden’ series, produced between 1989 and 1993 (which also forms the basis of his acclaimed book and exhibition project ‘Revival’), is at the heart of his early work. As a young art student, Mehta documented the communities shaped by Afro-Caribbean and Irish immigrants in the eponymous London borough of Harlesden (Brent), where he himself grew up. He worked methodically with a medium-format camera and natural daylight. His candid black-and-white photographs capture everyday life on the streets, in hairdressing salons, living rooms and during religious ceremonies in a deeply intimate and respectful manner. The series eschews any form of media sensationalism and is today regarded as a historically invaluable document of cultural solidarity and post-migrant identity in London.

Our collection includes a set of 10 prints from his ‘Harlesden’ series, which was produced between 1989 and 1993.

Roy Mehta

Harlesden, 1989–1993