Leah Gordon (born 1959) is a British photographer, artist, curator, writer and filmmaker. Her work explores the intervolved and intersectional histories of the Caribbean plantation system, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Enclosure Acts and the creation of the British working-class. She has made various work in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, such as the photographs of ''Kanaval', which was published in 2021 by Here Press and exhibited at the

New Art Exchange New Art Exchange is a contemporary art gallery in Nottingham's Hyson Green neighborhood representing contexts of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic artists and communities. The organisation formed as a charity in 2003 from APNA Arts (a South ...

, Nottingham in 2012.

Work

Gordon has made various photographic work in

, such as about

Haitian Carnival Haitian Carnival ( ht, Kanaval, french: link=no, Carnaval) is a celebration held over several weeks each year leading up to Mardi Gras. ''Haitian Defile Kanaval'' is the Haitian Creole name of the main annual Mardi Gras carnival held in Port-au-P ...

(Kanaval); Freemasons; the three-tiered racial classification system created by the 18th-century French colonialist Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry; and the

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

s of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

. She has also made photographic work about airport prayer spaces. She is a co-founder of

Ghetto Biennale The Ghetto Biennale (Haitian Creole: ''Geto Byenal'') is an international contemporary arts exhibition held every two years in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during November and December. History The Ghetto Biennale was founded and is curated by Andre Eu ...

, a biannual international contemporary arts exhibition in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Publications

*''Kanaval''. London: Here Press, 2021. Photography by Gordon. . With essays by Leah Gordon ("Transgressive Histories and Disorderly Ancestors"),

Madison Smartt Bell Madison Smartt Bell (born August 1, 1957, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American novelist. While established as a writer by several early novels, he is especially known for his trilogy of novels about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolut ...

("Spirit sources of the Haitian Revolution"), Kathy Smith ("Lansetkòd: memory, mimicry, masculinity") and Myron M. Beasley ("The performance of possibilities"). *''Ghetto Biennale = Geto Byenal: 2009–2015''. London: No Eraser, 2017. Compiled by Gordon. . Illustrated catalogue documenting the first four Ghetto Biennale events. With written contributions by Emilie Boone, Léonard Jean Baptiste, Makenson Bijou, Claudel Casseus, Rossi Jacques Casimir, John Cussans, Jean D'Amérique, Peter Haffner, Charlotte Hammond, John Kieffer, Jean-Daniel Lafontant, Elizabeth McAlister, Polly Savage and Katherine Smith.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the Streets of Haiti'',

, Nottingham, 2012

Exhibitions curated by Gordon

*''Pòtoprens: The Urban Artists of Port-au-Prince'', curated by Gordon and

Edouard Duval-Carrié Edouard Duval-Carrié (born 1954) is a Haitian-born American contemporary painter and sculptor based in Miami, Florida. Life Edouard Duval-Carrié was born in Port-au-Prince. His family emigrated to Puerto Rico during the François Duvalier regi ...

. Includes work by 25 Haitian artists. Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, New York, 2018. With work by Katelyne Alexis, Josué Azor, Karim Bléus,

Myrlande Constant Myrlande Constant (born 1968) is a Haitian textile artist who specializes in Vodou themed flags, or ''drapo Vodou''. Since she began making Vodou flags in the 1990s, she has transformed and surpassed this medium, preferring to make large-scale t ...

, Ronald Edmond, André Eugène, Guyodo (Frantz Jacques), Celeur Jean Hérard, Michel Lafleur, Dubréus Lhérisson, Ti Pelin (Jean Salomon Horace), Evel Romain, Jean Claude Saintilus,

Maggie Steber Maggie Steber is an American documentary photographer. Her work has documented a wide range of issues, including the African slave trade, Native American issues in the United States, natural disasters, and science. Steber has produced the book ' ...

, Roberto Stephenson, and Yves Telemaque.

Films

*''A Pig's Tale'' – documentary; commissioned for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

; 52 mins *''Atis Rezistans: The Sculptors of Grand Rue'' – 32 mins *''Bounda pa Bounda: A Drag Zaka'' – documentary; 20 mins All three films are compiled on the ''Iron in the Soul: The Haiti Documentary Films of Leah Gordon'' DVD from Soul Jazz Records.

References

External links

* 21st-century British photographers 20th-century British photographers Photographers from Cheshire English women photographers People from Ellesmere Port Living people 1959 births {{UK-photographer-stub