Vanley Burke was born in
St. Thomas, Jamaica, in 1951. For his 10th birthday, he was sent a "
Box Brownie" camera—a
Kodak Brownie 127—by his mother, who in the late 1950s had gone to live in England, while he remained with his aunt in St.Thomas. In 1965,at the age of 14, he went to join his parents in the UK, leaving his radio to his aunt as a parting gift but taking his camera with him. Burke seriously started photography around 1967, making a conscious decision to document the black community and lifestyle in England. His first studio was in Grove Lane,
Handsworth, Birmingham. The 1993 exhibition
From Negative Stereotype to Positive Image, organised by
Birmingham Central Library, included his work alongside that of three other Birmingham photographers:
Sir Benjamin Stone (1838–1914),
Ernest Dyche (1887–1973) and
Claudette Holmes (born 1962). Burke was a significant contributor of imagery to the Birmingham photography magazine and collective,
Ten.8. Burke's work has also been used in documentaries (including
Handsworth Songs, 1986), television programmes, books and on record sleeves such as
UB40's
Geffery Morgan. A biography entitled
A Retrospective, on the life and works of Burke, was published in 1993 by
Lawrence & Wishart, edited by
Mark Sealy. In 1990, Burke received a call from a friend in South Africa saying: "South Africa is going to be free and we need you here." During two visits to the country, in 1990 then in 1996, Burke photographed the life of black South Africans just after
Nelson Mandela's release from prison and the subsequent
ANC celebrations hosted and attended by Mandela for the
anti-Apartheid veterans. The "Vanley Burke Archive" maintained by
Birmingham City Council is a constantly growing photographic and documentary community resource. Complementing his photographic documentation, Burke collects material that samples and evidences developments and activities of the black community in Britain. The material comprises things such as posters or
flyers and funeral cards that may have been seen as disposable at the time of their creation but take greater significance when maintained in the context of his archive. They evidence and provide insight of the daily activities and everyday lives, cultural and religious beliefs, the arts, political ideals, health and other facets affecting the black community and others in Birmingham and in Britain. Burke is still documenting the black community in the UK and has more recently worked on a number of projects including an exhibition and publication project documenting the Asian community in Birmingham. Having won a Kodak Award as early as 1984, he has also received an Honorary Doctorate from
Leicester University, UK, in 2007, and the Wolverhampton School of Art and Design awarded him an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Art in 2009 at their award ceremony.
Stuart Hall endorsed that: "the personal, social and economic life of black people as they arrived, settled and became established in British society – is being constructed, given a certain meaning, significance, value, by Burke's camera eye, not merely 'captured'." Burke said in September 2005: "It's just about the ability to see something others may be unable to see, in terms of the value. Then show people. They need to see their contribution to this community. I mean, they have been contributing to this thing from the 50s and it's gone beyond, but there is no reference anywhere. It's about having themselves reflected, they are so desperate to see themselves. But this will be there, it isn't going anywhere....".
The British Library conducted an oral history interview (C459/217) with Burke in 2014 for its Oral History of British Photography collection. In 2015, Burke recreated the front room of his home in Birmingham's Ikon Gallery, for a show characterised as "a living archive of untold black British history". In 2018, the site-specific installation
Vanley Burke: 5000 Miles and 70 Years was part of the events at
mac, Birmingham, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the
HMT Empire Windrush from the Caribbean to the UK. Burke was a guest on
BBC Radio 4's programme
Desert Island Discs, first broadcast on 4 November 2018, when he was interviewed by
Lauren Laverne and explained his motivation for documenting culture and history. In 2021, London's
National Portrait Gallery acquired a portrait of Burke by photographer
Pogus Caesar. Burke was the recipient of a 2022
Paul Hamlyn Award for his contribution to Visual Art. ==Personal life==