[CULTURE] AN INTERVIEW WITH KARIS BEAUMONT

What inspired the imagery you created for the Reach for the Wray campaign?

Wray & Nephew and I had the same vision: showcase Black stories through images. When they approached me with the idea, I thought about my own experiences of being in a community function, and how love, joy and vibes just take up the space. I wanted to portray this in the best way possible. 

How does this series of images fit in with your photography catalogue and the usual themes within your work?

One of the main themes that’s woven through my work is community. Photographing connection is important to me, so this project with Wray & Nephew allowed me to portray it in a personal way.

What stands out to you about the connections and relationships in Britain’s Black community?

From my personal experience of being brought up in the Black community in Hertfordshire, is that we love to take a trip to another town or city to attend gatherings and social affairs. This is more apparent for my parents’ generation. Intentionally staying connected to Caribbean and African loved ones who reside in different areas. I believe this is something that needs to continue moving forward. That strong sense of community really stands out to me, and I imagine this is, or used to be a similar experience across Britain’s Black community.

What makes the art of celebration special within this community? 

Whatever the occasion, we love to come together. Jamaicans are very family-oriented people. We love to vibe, so when we do have the opportunity to vibe, we do it well.

Black Boy joy is important to document, how do you document elements of this within your imagery?

What I photograph is partly a reflection of how I feel, and also what is actually there in front of me. The display of ‘Black boy joy’ throughout my work is me photographing real people, real moments. Nothing more, nothing less.

What are some of your favourite things about Black British culture? For example in terms of its creative scenes and language.

I love how we have many influences that inform the way we not only create, but how we interpret those influences. We can be very innovative if we’re really tapped in, but that requires us to be bold and forthcoming with the things we want to create.

Which Black British icons would you most like to shoot?

I would love to shoot Little Simz again. But new faces for my camera? Michaela Coel, Daniel Kaluuya, Lianne La Havas, John Boyega, Bree Runway to name a few.

Archive is so important, especially today where a lot of people don’t reference their sources. What does archive mean to you?

Archive is to preserve. When we archive, we immortalise the people, the moments and the communities via the images, footage and written documents . It’s so easy for erasure of history to take place, so it’s just as essential to record what’s happening now as well as in the past.

How did you become an archivist of Black culture?

I started scanning images from my own family photo albums. My immediate family were born and raised in Hertfordshire after my grandparents’ settled there from Jamaica., It was a great starting point for me. It encouraged me to ask my peers around me to submit to the archive, which led me to do a deep dive online to see what I could find. The rest is history.

Jamaica is a visually stunning place, what are your favourite kinds of photos to take there? 

The last time I was in Jamaica was around the time I first picked up my camera, so a trip is overdue. My favourite picture I’ve taken there so far is a portrait of my young cousin. When I’m next in Jamaica, I believe my favourite kinds of photos will be portraits and candid/documentary styled photos of the people for sure.