In pictures: Photography exhibition explores 50 years of Bengali heritage in East London

A stunning new photography exhibition in Bethnal Green, London, is showcasing the everyday lives of the Bengali community in East London over the past 50 years.

Titled ‘I Am Who I Am Now’, the exhibition brings together intimate family snapshots and striking images of community solidarity, revealing the intricate connection between personal stories and the wider socio-political landscape of the East End.

The images are drawn from the Bengali Photo Archive, a new collection of personal and family photographs donated by local people. They are shown alongside work by photographers who have documented the working lives, activism and anti-racist struggles of the Bengali community, including Raju Vaidyanathan, Mayar Akash, Anthony Lam, Paul Halliday, Sarah Ainslie, David Hoffman and Paul Trevor.

The archive has also inspired collaboratively-created works, such as photographs embroidered by mothers and daughters.

Anthony Lam, Notes from the Streets, Tower Hamlets, 1990s

David Hoffman, Brick Lane, 1990.

Nita Roy Chowdhury, Studio Portrait, 1983. Embroidered by Jenny Matthews, 2024.

Anthony Lam, A young girl in Spitalfields in the 1980s.

Bev Zalcock, Adult learners in Whitechapel, 1975

Daniele Lamarche, Two boys dancing to music on the radio at Spitalfields Farm, Tower Hamlets, 1990s

David Hoffman, Kids Play With Car at Fieldgate Mansions

Lloyd Gee, Bangladesh Youth Movement winning the football tournament final, 1986

Shaira Jahan, Shaira’s siblings and mother, 1982

Shanaz Siddiqa-Baeg, Shanaz with her mother in Bangladesh, 1981

Shanaz Siddiqa-Baeg, Shanaz in her room at Biscott House

Tom Learmonth, Montefiore Centre Mural Painting, 1970s

Mayar Akash, TUC Unite Against Racism March and Demonstration, Tower Hamlets 1990s

‘I Am Who I Am Now’ runs until 3 August 2024 at the Four Corners gallery.*