Mark Sealy (born 1960) is a British curator and cultural historian with a special interest in the relationship of photography to social change, identity politics and human rights. In 1991 he became the director of Autograph ABP, the Association of Black Photographers, based since 2007 at

Rivington Place Rivington Place is a purpose-built international visual arts centre in Shoreditch, London. Origins and history Rivington Place was commissioned by two publicly funded visual arts organisations, Iniva and Autograph ABP, with the intention of es ...

, a purpose-built international visual arts centre in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, London. He has curated several major international exhibitions and is also a lecturer.

Biography

Born in 1960 in Hackney, London (to a father from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and an English mother),Martin Knelman
"Human Rights, Human Wrongs at Ryerson Image Centre"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', 25 January 2013. and raised in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, Mark Sealy studied at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

, after which he worked on national newspapers in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

Alison Donnell Alison Donnell is an academic, originally from the United Kingdom. She is currently Professor of Modern Literatures in English and Head of School of Humanities at the University of Bristol. Donnell was previously Professor of Modern Literatures ...

"Mark Sealy"
''Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture'', Routledge, 2002, p. 274. As the Director of Autograph ABP (the Association of Black Photographers) since 1991, he has been responsible for initiating and delivering many exhibitions, residency projects and publications, as well as commissioning photographers and filmmakers. A recent commissioned project (2013–14) was '' The Unfinished Conversation'', by award-winning documentary-maker

John Akomfrah Sir John Akomfrah (born 4 May 1957) is a Ghanaian-born British artist, writer, film director, screenwriter, theorist and curator of Ghanaian descent, whose "commitment to a radicalism both of politics and of cinematic form finds expression in ...

, a film-work on the political life of cultural theorist Stuart Hall. Sealy has been a guest lecturer at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

and many other institutions in England and abroad, and has participated in many national and international conferences, including on the "Historical Perspectives on International Curatorial Debates of the 1980s and 1990s" panel at the ''Shades of Black'' conference,

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

(

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

), in April 2001, the 2011 symposium on "post-racial imaginaries" held at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

by the journal ''darkmatter'', "Reframing the Moment: Legacies of the 1982

Blk Art Group The BLK Art Group was the name chosen in 1982 by a group of five influential conceptual artists, painters, sculptors and installation artists based in England. Keith Piper, Marlene Smith, Eddie Chambers and Donald Rodney were initially based ...

" (curated by

Sonia Boyce Dame Sonia Dawn Boyce (born 1962) is a British British African-Caribbean community, Afro-Caribbean artist and educator who lives and works in London. She is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. Boyce's research ...

and Keith Piper) in 2012 at

Wolverhampton Polytechnic The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...

, and has been on judging juries for such prestigious awards as the

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

competition. In 2007, the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

awarded Sealy the

Hood Medal The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

for services to photography.Mark Sealy biography
, Autograph ABP. In 2019, he was given the Award for Outstanding Service to Photography (and Honorary Fellowship), Royal Photographic Society. His work as a curator includes an audiovisual programme for

Rencontres d'Arles The Rencontres d'Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d'Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian ...

in 1993, and ''Human Rights Human Wrongs'' – an exhibition featuring images selected from the

Black Star Black Star or Blackstar may refer to: Astronomy *Black star (semiclassical gravity), a theoretical star built using semiclassical gravity as an alternative to a black hole *Saturn, referred to as "Black Star" in ancient Judaeic belief *Black dwarf ...

collection of 20th-century

photojournalism 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 ...

– at the

Ryerson Image Centre The Image Centre (formerly known as the Ryerson Image Centre and the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre) is a photography and art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The centre is a university museum operated by Toronto Metropolitan University ( ...

, Toronto (23 January–14 April 2013),"Human Rights Human Wrongs"
Ryerson Image Centre. and at the

Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

, London (6 February–6 April 2015). Among many initiatives at Rivington Place, he co-curated with Renée Mussai (archivist and head of research at Autograph) the critically acclaimed ''Black Chronicles II'', first shown in 2014, a solo retrospective of the work of

Rotimi Fani-Kayode Rotimi Fani-Kayode (20 April 1955 – 21 December 1989), born Oluwarotimi Adebiyi Wahab Fani-Kayode, was a Nigerian photographer who at the age of 11 moved with his family to England, fleeing from the Biafran War. A seminal figure in British con ...

(1955–1989) marking the 25th anniversary of his death, and in 2015, researched and curated an exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of the

Fifth Pan-African Congress The Pan-African Congress (PAC) is a regular series of meetings which first took place on the back of the First Pan-African Conference, Pan-African Conference held in London in 1900. The Pan-African Congress first gained a reputation as a peace ...

in 1945, featuring photographs by

John Deakin John Deakin (8 May 1912 – 25 May 1972) was an English photographer, best known for his work centred on members of Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon's The Colony Room, Soho inner circle. Bacon based a number of famous paintings on photogra ...

exhibited for the first time. Sealy curated the 18th FotoFest Biennial (8 March–19 April 2020), Houston's city-wide annual photography festival, marking the first time that the event has focused its attention on the continent and its diaspora. 'The history of visual culture and making images is being investigated, torn apart, blown up in the air, and made new,' Sealy has explained, citing this exhibition as playing a part in this process. Sealy completed a PhD at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where his research focused on photography and cultural violence. He previously earned a taught MA in Photographic Image from the same institution. Sealy was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to photography and

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to art.

Publications

*''Vanley Burke: a Retrospective''. London:

Lawrence & Wishart Lawrence & Wishart is a British publishing company formerly associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Martin Lawrence, the Communist Party's press, and Wishart Ltd, a family-owned left-wing ...

, 1993. Edited by Sealy. With a preface by Stuart Hall . *''Different: A Historical Context: Contemporary Photographers and Black Identity''.

Phaidon Phaidon is an ancient Greek name that may refer to: *Phaedo of Elis, philosopher *''Phaedo'', one of Plato's dialogues named after Phaedo of Elis who appears in it *Phaidon Press, a publisher *'' Phaidon Design Classics'', a 2006 British three volum ...

, 2001. With Stuart Hall. An examination of identity through photography. *''Rotimi Fani-Kayode & Alex Hirst – Photographs''. London: Autograph, 1996. Co-edited by Sealy. *''Decolonising the Camera: Photography in Racial Time''. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2019. . *''Photography: Race, Rights and Representation''. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2022. .

References

External links

"Afterimage: why representation matters – Mark Sealy"
YouTube.
"Mark Sealy Interview: HUMAN RIGHTS HUMAN WRONGS"
Vimeo. Interview by Janice McLaren, Head of Education and Projects at The Photographers' Gallery.
"'The Historical Conditions of Existence: on Stuart Hall and the Photographic Moment' Mark Sealy, OBE"
Vimeo. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sealy, Mark Living people Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of Durham University English curators Black British photographers Black British academics English people of Barbadian descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1960 births Photographers from Northumberland English historians Cultural historians People from Hackney, London People from Newcastle upon Tyne