Eileen Perrier: A Thousand Small Stories / Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond

Autograph in East London is launching two new exhibitions, using portraiture as a tool for self-discovery and navigating change.

Eileen Perrier: A Thousand Small Stories
Curated by Bindi Vora. Since the 1990s, Eileen Perrier has used photographic portraiture to forge connections between people, acknowledging the profound value of being seen.

Often using makeshift studios, she brings her sitters together around shared experiences of kinship, interests or place. Her work has evolved into a form of social engagement that powerfully visualises individuality—encouraging us to look beyond social and cultural divides.

Perrier uses the tropes of 19th-century European and contemporary African studio portraiture to contemplate how class, cultural identity and belonging are represented through the photographic portrait. Creating inclusive environments in her practice as both an artist and senior lecturer in photography, Perrier has influenced generations of photographers. A Thousand Small Stories is the first retrospective of the artist’s work, bringing together three decades of photographs.

The exhibition opens with When am I gonna stop being wise beyond my years?, her recent series addressing the realities teenage girls face while grappling with social media, body image and misogyny. Perrier’s interest in the elusive politics of beauty is also reflected in her iconic portraits from the late 1990s and early 2000s, Afro Hair and Beauty Show, highlighting the significance of hair and hairstyles as symbols of cultural pride and resistance.

Perrier works with and within communities: this spirit of collaboration extends to her own family in Red, Gold and Green. In this series, she worked closely with three generations of British Ghanaians and relatives from her extended family to create portraits in their London homes. Using vivid fabric to create a temporary studio, these images draw on the long tradition of African studio portraiture. These are shown alongside portrait projects spanning Perrier’s career, from gentle explorations of kinship and memory in Ghana, to a lively community beauty salon in Brixton.

On the exterior of Autograph’s gallery will be Twenty-Two, a new commission by Perrier examining generational perspectives on change and self-discovery.

A Thousand Small Stories forms part of Autograph’s continued commitment to curate and preserve the legacy of important black women practitioners such as Perrier, and to ensure that their significant contributions to the canon of photography are recognised.

Exhibition supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.

Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond
Curated by Jolie Hockings. In our culture preoccupied with outward appearances, Dianne Minnicucci explores how vulnerability and discomfort in front of the camera can become acts of self-discovery and collaboration. She embraces the unease of being photographed—where to look, how to position the body—allowing these moments of uncertainty to shape this new series of portraits of herself and her young son.

Set within the ancient woodland of Abbey Wood in South London, Minnicucci’s poetic black-and-white images foreground her roles as artist, mother and teacher. Layers of light and fragmentation draw attention to subtle shifts in body language, inviting us to consider what it means to be truly vulnerable. As gestures slip behind leaves or linger in dappled light, the artist asks: what does it mean to be unguarded? What do we reveal of ourselves to each other?

Central to Belonging and Beyond is Minnicucci’s role as a secondary school photography teacher. For six months, she brought her studio into the classroom, challenging traditional student-teacher hierarchies. Teaching and the act of making photographs are not separate but deeply intertwined, each enriching the other in a continuous cycle of discovery. By merging these practices, the studio was redefined—no longer a solitary space, but one of shared dialogue and inquiry. Encouraging her students to embrace discomfort in their creative process, she, in turn, did the same.

Part of the Visible Practice Residency project, delivered in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery, with support from Freelands Foundation.

Events
A Thousand Small Stories artist-led exhibition tour: May 1, 6:30–7:30pm
Personal Style, Community and Portraiture: May 8, 6:30–7:30pm
Vulnerability and Self-Portraiture artist talk: May 22, 6:30–7:30pm
Yoga in the Gallery with Eileen Perrier: June 14, 10:30am–12pm
A Thousand Small Stories BSL response: June 19, 6:30–8pm
Black Feminist Visions in Photography: July 10, 6:30–8pm
Portraiture and Collaboration workshop: July 26, 1:30–4:30pm

Book tickets for all events on Autograph’s website.