How well do we read into a photo, in a time when we rapidly ‘scan’ glide over everything?

Do we stop to think about the story that lies behind a photo, and its true significance?

‘Beyond a Photo’ is a documentary that helps important yet invisible community stories come to light – using photographs to tell stories.

Tracing the journey of a photo depicting two young friends in the 1970s, decades later this photo is revisited and chronicles personal stories that help shape Black British history.

The documentary features an engaging and diverse range of contributors aided by photographs and archives in order to recount personal observations of life in London during the 1970s/80s, and revisits important moments in British History, thus preserving a rich and diverse heritage through story telling.

Topics range from the sus laws, civil disturbances, housing activism, Black empowerment, the Winter of Discontent, childhood, community solidarity and self-reliance to the Mangrove Nine, and explores the visual impact and significance of the Afro in the issue of identity, self-image and popular culture. Enjoy!