CJ Clarke
NationalityBritish
Alma materLondon College of Communication
Occupation(s)Photographer
Filmmaker
Years active2005 - present
Known forJust Another Photo Festival
The Rape in India Project
Notable workMagic Party Place

CJ Clarke is a British independent filmmaker, photojournalist and photographer based in London, England. He is the author of Magic Party Place, a book documenting contemporary England and mapping the roots of Brexit in the process.[1] Clarke's works have been commended at Ian Parry Award, three Magenta Flash Forward Awards and two Observer Hodge Photographic Awards.[2][3] He is also the co-founder and director of Just Another Photo Festival, an Indian photography festival that democratises access to visual media.[4]

Biography

Clarke was born and raised in Basildon, England.[5] He went to the University of York where he studied English Literature. In 2005, he moved to London where he studied documentary photography at the London College of Communication.[6][7] Clarke began his professional career in 2005 while exploring and documenting his hometown Basildon in Essex for his photobook, Magic Party Place.[7][8] In 2010, he produced and directed a short film, Mother & Daughter: Cody’s Story. The film won the inaugural edition of the British Journal of Photography's Open Shutter Award.[9] Mother & Daughter: Cody’s Story was produced for the British charity School-Home Support.[10]

In 2015, Clarke co-founded Just Another Photo Festival (JAPF) in India, with Poulomi Basu, a documentary photographer. JAPF is a guerrilla festival that aims at providing the art of photography to mass audiences irrespective of their background.[11] He is also the co-founder of the crowdsourced activist initiative The Rape In India Project.[12] In 2016, Clarke authored Magic Party Place, a decade-long project documenting ordinary town of Basildon and the rise of the rights that led to Brexit.[13][14] The book received critical reviews from several news outlets including The Guardian, Time and Dazed.[7][14][15] Magic Party Place was shortlisted for multiple awards including the Aperture Paris Photo First Book Award 2016, Arles Authors Book Award 2017, Photo Espana Book of the Year 2017 and Photo London Krasna-Kraus Photo Book Award 2017.[16]

In 2018, Clarke produced Blood Speaks, a transmedia project created by Poulomi Basu. Blood Speaks investigates normalised physical violence against women. The project was premiered at the Margaret Mead Film Festival and selected for Sheffield DocFest in 2018. In March 2019, Clarke and Poulomi Basu presented the project at the South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.[17] In March 2022, Clarke collaborated again with Poulomi Basu for the transmedia project, Fireflies, a series portraying relationship between mother and daughter.[18] Currently, Clarke is working on the project Loyalists about post-peace in contemporary Northern Ireland.[19]

Books

References

  1. ^ Cresswell, Joanna (17 October 2016). "Capturing the essence of growing up in working-class Britain". Dazed. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  2. ^ "CJ Clarke is a visual artist and author of Magic Party Place". Sharjah Art Foundation. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  3. ^ "LensCulture - About CJ Clarke". LensCulture. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  4. ^ Sritharan, Brennavan (25 September 2015). "Delhi's Just Another Photo Festival wants to prove that it's different from the rest". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  5. ^ Bish, Joe (3 August 2016). "A Decade of Photos from Basildon, the 'Most Average Place' in England". Vice. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  6. ^ Smyth, Diane (8 April 2019). "CJ Clarke's Magic Party Place". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Laurent, Olivier (7 July 2016). "Anatomy of a Photobook: Magic Party Place by CJ Clarke". Time. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  8. ^ Crisell, Hattie (24 March 2017). "Eight Emerging Photographers You Need to Know About". Another Magazine. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  9. ^ Laurent, Olivier (14 January 2011). "Open Shutter - The First UK HD-DSLR Awards". British Journal of Photography. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  10. ^ Bainbridge, Simon (14 January 2011). "Photographer wins first Open Shutter Award". British Journal of Photography. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  11. ^ TNN (24 September 2015). "A photography fest that's open to all". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  12. ^ Chhariya, Priyanka (1 August 2017). "Rape in India: A crowdsourced photo project that documents the space of assault". Catch News. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  13. ^ Themen, Alle (21 July 2016). "Großbritannien: Wir sind der Durchschnitt". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  14. ^ a b c "Welcome to Basildon: the middle of Middle England – in pictures". The Guardian. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  15. ^ Dinsdale, Emily (18 August 2021). "Road trips and raging hormones: These photos are an ode to teenage rebels". Dazed. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  16. ^ Hernandez, Ciel (22 January 2017). "A Dialogue with CJ Clarke on "Magic Party Place"". Lomography. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  17. ^ "SXSW Schedule 2019". SXSW. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Poulomi Basu "Fireflies" @ Autograph, London". Juxtapoz. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  19. ^ Fordham, Michael (19 December 2016). "BOOK LAUNCH - Magic Party Place by CJ Clarke". 71a London. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  20. ^ King, Alex (17 December 2016). "A decade of discontent". Huck. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  21. ^ Hahn, Oliver; Stalph, Florian (2018). Digital Investigative Journalism Data, Visual Analytics and Innovative Methodologies in International Reporting. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 157–169. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-97283-1. ISBN 978-3-319-97283-1. Retrieved 23 April 2022.

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