Pogus Caesar
Pogus Caesar (born 1953) is a British photographer, conceptual artist, archivist, author, curator, television producer and director. He was born in St Kitts, West Indies, and grew up in Birmingham, England. Early life. Pogus Caesar was born on the Caribbean island of St Kitts and came to Britain at an early age, growing up in Birmingham, Great Britain. A self-taught artist, he took up painting seriously in his early 20s. Caesar developed his own technique by using simple pens and ink, composing his paintings with thousands of tiny dots. This minutely detailed use of a fountain pen  meant that even the smaller works took several months to complete. Career. During the early 1980s Caesar became director of the West Midlands Minority Arts Service. He was also the first chairman of Birmingham International Film & Television Festival. For the Arts Council of Great Britain he curated with Lubaina Himid and contributed to exhibitions by Black artists, including "Into the Open" (1984) and "Caribbean Expressions in Britain" (1986). During the late 1980s, Caesar began working in British television – originally as a journalist on Channel 4's "Black on Black", then as Series Producer, Director and Series Editor of entertainment, sport  and multicultural programmes for Central Television, Carlton Television and BBC. Radio programmes include "Mr & Mrs Smith" BRMB Radio and "The Windrush E. Smith Show", BBC West Midlands. In 1993 Caesar founded a production company, Windrush Productions. In 1995 Caesar was responsible for Carlton Television's multi cultural output - programmes including Respect", "Drumbeat" and the award-winning multicultural series "Xpress". As a photographer and artist Caesar has worked in Spain, India, South America and Sweden and Denmark, South Africa, Albania and Jamaica, documenting diverse communities. Caesar's artwork and photographs have been acquired by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA  Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), National Portrait Gallery, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery represent important visual documents recording key figures in black British history. Caesar's first publication, "Muzik Kinda Sweet", is a photography book featuring legendary black musicians including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones. The foreword for the book was written by Paul Gilroy and it was published by OOM Gallery Archive in 2010. Caesar's second book, "Sparkbrook Pride" (2011), consists of 70 black-and-white photos of residents of Sparkbrook . The book has a foreword written by Benjamin Zephaniah and an introduction by Paris-based photographer Nigel Dickinson. The limited edition photobook "Handsworth Riots 1985", documenting the inner city uprisings in Birmingham 1985, was published in 2020. In 2015 Caesar's photography documenting the Handsworth riots of 1985 was presented by the Victoria & Albert Museum at the Annual Meeting of the "World Economic Forum in Switzerland". Caesar was featured in Jacqui MacDonald's book "Portraits of Black Achievement": composing successful careers' (Lifetime Careers Ltd, 2001). The book included extended interviews with 70 black achievers, describing what it means to be  black in Britain today. In 2018 Caesar was awarded an honorary doctorate by Birmingham City University for his outstanding contribution to the visual arts. Caesar also made the list of "175 Brummies Who Inspire", which includes inspirational people across arts, business, education, sports and science who either hail from Birmingham or have made a significant contribution to the City. In February 2022, Caesar was named in CasildART's list of the top six Black British photographers, alongside Charlie Phillips, Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock, James Barnor and Vanley Burke. Exhibitions. Throughout the years, Caesar has provided support and development for a  host of educational and cultural initiatives regionally, nationally and internationally.