CJ Clarke is a British

independent filmmaker An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and photographer based in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. He is the author of ''Magic Party Place'', a book documenting contemporary England and mapping the roots of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

in the process. Clarke's works have been commended at Ian Parry Award, three Magenta Flash Forward Awards and two Observer Hodge Photographic Awards. He is also the co-founder and director of

Just Another Photo Festival Just Another Photo Festival is an Indian photography festival, co-founded by Poulomi Basu Poulomi Basu (born October 1983) is an Indian artist, documentary photographer and activist, much of whose work addresses the normalisation of violence ag ...

, an Indian photography festival that democratises access to visual media.

Biography

Clarke was born and raised in

Basildon, England Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

. He went to the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

where he studied English Literature. In 2005, he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he studied

documentary photography Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

at the

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

. Clarke began his professional career in 2005 while exploring and documenting his hometown Basildon in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

for his photobook, ''Magic Party Place''. In 2010, he produced and directed a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, ''Mother & Daughter: Cody’s Story''. The film won the inaugural edition of the

British Journal of Photography The ''British Journal of Photography'' (BJP) is a magazine about photography, published by 1854 Media. It includes in-depth articles, profiles of photographers, analyses, and technological reviews. History The magazine was established in Liverpo ...

's ''Open Shutter Award''. ''Mother & Daughter: Cody’s Story'' was produced for the British charity

School-Home Support School-Home Support (SHS) is a British charity founded in 1984 to help disadvantaged children and young people overcome barriers to education. The charity works with schools, local authorities and families, aiming to look "beyond the classroom" t ...

. In 2015, Clarke co-founded Just Another Photo Festival (JAPF) in India, with

Poulomi Basu Poulomi Basu (born October 1983) is an Indian artist, documentary photographer and activist, much of whose work addresses the normalisation of violence against marginalised women. Basu received the Royal Photographic Society's Hood Medal for th ...

, a

documentary photographer Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

. JAPF is a guerrilla festival that aims at providing the art of photography to mass audiences irrespective of their background. He is also the co-founder of the

crowdsourced Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

activist initiative ''The Rape In India Project''. In 2016, Clarke authored ''Magic Party Place'', a decade-long project documenting ordinary town of Basildon and the rise of the

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

that led to

. The book received critical reviews from several news outlets including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' and ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...

''. ''Magic Party Place'' was shortlisted for multiple awards including the Aperture Paris Photo First Book Award 2016, Arles Authors Book Award 2017, Photo Espana Book of the Year 2017 and Photo London Krasna-Kraus Photo Book Award 2017. In 2018, Clarke produced ''Blood Speaks'', a

transmedia Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. From a producti ...

project created by

. ''Blood Speaks'' investigates normalised physical violence against women. The project was premiered at the

Margaret Mead Film Festival The Margaret Mead Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It is the longest-running, premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, encompassing a broad spec ...

and selected for

Sheffield DocFest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

in 2018. In March 2019, Clarke and Poulomi Basu presented the project at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. In March 2022, Clarke collaborated again with Poulomi Basu for the transmedia project, ''Fireflies'', a series portraying relationship between mother and daughter. Currently, Clarke is working on the project ''Loyalists'' about post-peace in contemporary

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Books

* ''Magic Party Place'', (2016) published by Kehrer Verlag and designed by Teun van der Heijden. * ''A Matter of Perspective'' in ''Digital Investigative Journalism,'' (2018) ed. Oliver Hahn and Florian Stalph published by Palgrave MacMillan.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, CJ British filmmakers 21st-century British photographers British photojournalists People from Basildon Alumni of the University of York Year of birth missing (living people) Living people