Photographer delves into his father’s prints to capture real life on islands
TO holidaymakers, they are known as Paradise Islands but photographer Tim Smith wants to get away from the clichés and show them as real places with people leading everyday lives.
A new exhibition showing a unique archive of photographs, taken over a 65- year period, celebrates the light, life and landscapes of the Englishspeaking Caribbean.
The display, which is part of Black History Month, combines the work of Mr Smith, who has travelled to his childhood home of Barbados and many other islands in the region with close connections to Britain over the past decade.
Some of his photographs now make up a striking window display in Bradford’s City Park, together with pictures taken by his father Derek Smith on various islands during the 1950s and 1960s.
Mr Smith senior worked for the British government, in the Caribbean office of the Overseas Development Administration ( ODA) in Bridgetown, Barbados.
The display, supported by Bradford Council, is a taster for a much bigger show planned for 2021. Island to Island will use more photographs and people’s stories to explore how life in the Caribbean has changed over the last 65 years, showing how each island has its own special character and links to Britain.
Mr Smith, a professional photographer whose work has been showcased in a dozen books and exhibited in over 20 countries, said: “I’m aiming to produce an exhibition which moves beyond the popular stereotypes of ‘ Paradise Islands’ to show real people in real places leading real, everyday lives.
“It’s been a great pleasure to look through my father’s pictures and combine them with my own.
“These bring back lots of memories for me. Hopefully they will do the same for many visitors to the show who have lived in, or visited, the Caribbean.”
The photos have also been used as a springboard for people to share their memories of life in the Caribbean region in a series of online workshops organised by Mr Smith and Windrush Generations, a voluntary organisation of people of Caribbean heritage living in Bradford.
It’s been a great pleasure to look through my father’s pictures. Tim Smith who has used his own and his father’s photographs for the exhibition.