Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography

Pictures from Paradise examines the ways in which contemporary art photography has evolved within the English-speaking Caribbean, rising beyond idyllic scenes to tackle more intricate issues.

Within the past few years, regional artists working with the medium of fine art photography have provided an increasingly searching image of the Caribbean and the people who inhabit it. In recognising that the region is not the picture-perfect paradise of traditional depictions, these artists focus instead on what is not easily seen or that which is often ignored – the complex social, racial, political, and physical relationships and landscapes that exist within the Caribbean.

Edited by Melanie Archer and Mariel Brown, Pictures from Paradise features a critical essay by O’Neil Lawrence, assistant curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica, and more than 200 images from 18 artists: Ewan Atkinson, Marvin Bartley, Terry Boddie, Holly Bynoe, James Cooper, Renee Cox, Gerard Gaskin, Abigail Hadeed, Gerard Hanson, Nadia Huggins, Marlon James, Roshini Kempadoo, O’Neil Lawrence, Ebony G Patterson, Radcliffe Roye, Alex Smailes, Stacey Tyrell and Rodell Warner.