Kemka Ajoku

Finding Common Ground

For a little over two decades, my life and who I have defined as myself has been dictated on the notion of me never standing on the right ground. As a child of Black African immigrant parents, it was common for many people like me, to feel distant from where they’re supposed to be, inherently grateful yet embarrassingly confused.

Despite its vast multiculturalism, somewhat forming its own subculture, England, more specifically London, hasn’t ever felt more conflicted than when represented by ethnicity. Born and bred doesn’t roll off the tongue with the same spirit of genuity it might do for our white roommates, living in a house that sometimes does not feel like home.

Yet, contrary to common belief, there is a lot of history to the Black British culture, much of which is muted and suppressed.

And as a Black British citizen and visual storyteller, it is my responsibility to document the stories of my people, both those of past and present. Stories of immigration and cultures inherited from foreign soil, and now embedded into the new British way of life.

I title this project Finding Common Ground as I wish to represent my people, through portraiture and fashion imagery, feeling at home in a country we also claim as our own, and cementing our story into the metaphorical book of English heritage.