# Maxine Walker

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**Maxine Walker** (born 1962) is a British-Jamaican photographer and critic. Based in [Handsworth](/source/Handsworth,_West_Midlands) and active between 1985 and 1997, Walker has been described by [Rianna Jade Parker](/source/Rianna_Jade_Parker) as "a force within the [Black British Art movement](/source/Black_British_Art_movement)".[1] Her photographs emphasise the fictive nature of documentary convention, and "raise questions about the nature of [identity](/source/Cultural_identity), challenging [racial stereotypes](/source/Racial_stereotypes)".[2]

## Life

Maxine Walker was born in 1962 in [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham), England.[3]

Walker's 1987 series *Auntie Lindie's House* challenged the unmediated nature of [documentary photography](/source/Documentary_photography), replicating photographic conventions within a fictional context. *Black Beauty*, a 1980s series, and *Untitled*, a series for the 1995 *[Self Evident](/source/Self_Evident_(exhibition))* exhibition, both consisted of self-portraits.[2] *Untitled* contained a sequence of ten closely-cropped black and white photographs, in which Walker appeared to peel away successive layers of her surface skin.[4]

Walker has written various reviews and texts for art magazines and exhibition-related publication.[5] After *Polareyes*, a 1987 exhibition of black women photographers at the [Camden Arts Centre](/source/Camden_Arts_Centre), she co-edited and contributed to a short-lived journal of the same name. In 1999 she published a short [artist's book](/source/Artist's_book) in the series published by Autograph.[6]

## Works

### Exhibitions

- *Polareyes: Black Women Photographers*, [Camden Arts Centre](/source/Camden_Arts_Centre), 1987. With [Brenda Agard](/source/Brenda_Agard), Margaret Andrews, [Zarina Bhimji](/source/Zarina_Bhimji), Similola Coker, [Joy Gregory](/source/Joy_Gregory), Rhona Harritte, Joy Kahumbu, Mumtaz Karimjee, Linda King, Jenny Mckenzie, [Tracey Moffatt](/source/Tracey_Moffatt), Amina Patel, [Ingrid Pollard](/source/Ingrid_Pollard), Samena Rana, Molly Shinhat, Sharon Wallace, Geraldine Walsh, Gloria Walsh, and Halina Zajac.
- *Intimate Distance: Five Female Artists*, [The Photographers' Gallery](/source/The_Photographers'_Gallery), 1989. With Zarina Bhimji, [Sutapa Biswas](/source/Sutapa_Biswas), [Mona Hatoum](/source/Mona_Hatoum) and Ingrid Pollard.[7]
- *Self Evident*, Ikon Gallery, August–September 1995. With [Seydou Keita](/source/Seydou_Keita), [Mama Casset](/source/Mama_Casset), [Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé](/source/Olad%C3%A9l%C3%A9_Ajiboy%C3%A9_Bamgboy%C3%A9) and Ingrid Pollard.[8] Curated by [Mark Sealy](/source/Mark_Sealy).
- (solo) UNTITLED, [Autograph ABP](/source/Autograph_ABP), April–August 2019. Curated by Renée Mussai and Bindi Vora.[4]
- (solo) UNTITLED, [Midlands Arts Centre](/source/Midlands_Arts_Centre), April–June 2020.[9]

### Writing

- "Boxed Gems". *Polareyes: A Journal by and about Black Women working in photography*. **1**: 42–43. 1987.
- "We do not Wish to do it Quietly". *[Ten.8](/source/Ten.8)*. **27**: 42–45.
- "Testimony: Three Black Women Photographers". *Creative Camera*. **4**: 34. 1987.
- "Beauty and the Beast: Have Images of Black Women in the Media Changed over the Years?". *Blackboard Review*. **2**: 12–13. 1990.
- 'Intimate Distance', in Jo Spence & Patricia Holland (eds.) (1991). *Family Snaps*. London: Virago. pp. 222–225.
- Mark Sealy (ed.) (1999). *Maxine Walker: Monograph*. Autograph. ISBN 1899282505.

## References

1. Rianna Jade Parker (19 August 2019). ["How British-Jamaican Photographer Maxine Walker Disrupted the Idea of an Approved Womanhood"](https://www.frieze.com/article/how-british-jamaican-photographer-maxine-walker-disrupted-idea-approved-womanhood). *[frieze](/source/Frieze_(magazine))*. Retrieved 15 February 2022.

1. ["Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience"](https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/staying-power-photographs-of-black-british-experience). *Victoria and Albert Museum*. Retrieved 15 February 2022.

1. Alison Donnell (ed.) (2002). ["Walker, Maxine"](https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA319). *Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture*. Routledge. p. 319. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.

1. ["Maxine Walker: Untitled"](https://autograph.org.uk/exhibitions/maxine-walker-untitled). *Autograph*. 2019.

1. Melanie Keen & Liz Ward (eds.) (1996). *Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art*. inIVA in collaboration with the Chelsea College of Art and Design. p. 108. ISBN 1899846069.

1. Maxine Walker (1999). *Maxine Walker: Monograph*. Mark Sealy (ed.). Autograph. ISBN 1899282505.

1. ["Intimate Distance: Five Female Artists"](https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/intimate-distance-five-female-artists). The Photographers’ Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2022.

1. [Martina Attille](/source/Martina_Attille) (November–December 1995). "Scared of you: Martina Attille on Self Evident". *Women's Art Magazine*. **67**

1. ["Maxine Walker: Untitled"](https://www.whatsonlive.co.uk/birmingham/interviews/maxine-walker-untitled/15655). *What's On: Birmingham*. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.

## Further reading

- Joy Gregory (1987). "Fantasy: Joy Gregory Speaking to Maxine Walker". *Polareyes*. **1**: 18–19.
- "Portfolio: Maxine Walker". *Creative Camera*. **8/9**: 42–43. 1987.
- Gilane Tawadros (Spring 1992). "Redrawing the Boundaries: the Documentary work of David Lewis and Maxine Walker". *Ten.8*. **2** (3): 86–92.

## External links

- Mariama Attah (11 August 2021). ["Beauty For All: The Photography of Maxine Walker"](https://autograph.org.uk/blog/beauty-for-all-the-photography-of-maxine-walker/)

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