I am a London-based photographer with cerebral palsy. In 2021 I was awarded the Royal Photographic Societies Hood medal for a body of photographic work produced to promote or raise awareness of an aspect of public benefit or service. Not only am I aiming to challenge media misrepresentations, through my work I hope to inspire young disabled people to follow their dreams.
My family moved to the United Kingdom when I was nine, having spent my early childhood in Jamaica. Growing up disabled in Jamaica was exceptionally challenging in the early 90s. I attended a mainstream primary school, which had little to no special provisions to accommodate disabled students. This meant walking on my hands and knees as there were no wheelchairs or crutches available. When I moved to England, it was two years before I was accepted into a specialist school for disabled students. I have always wanted to use photography as a tool to document these struggles, and to challenge the way that disability is represented in the mainstream.
My work focuses on representing the black community, and accurately depicting the challenges disabled people face in contemporary society. My method operates in a space between documentary and portraiture, and I am particularly passionate about portrait photography. - one of my portraits made it to the Taylor Wessing Competition in 2016. Through my photography I aim to reframe disability and the ideas behind success, and what that looks like.
Since graduating in 2020 my portfolio has steadily grown, with both Autograph and Disability Arts Online commissioning me to produce work during the pandemic. My first self-published monograph "Tower Avenue" was shortlisted for the MACK book prize, and I was also a guest speaker at the Bristol Photography Symposium. Several of my works have also been selected to feature in an exhibition at the Brady Arts Centre in Tower Hamlets for Black History Month. I am very proud to say I graduated from Middlesex University with a distinction grade MA in Photography, after having completed a BA in Photography where I attained a First.
Website: www.dextermclean.com
Instagram: @dextermcleanphotography