TALKING BOOKS

With Joy Gregory . Artist, Editor, Writer and Cristina Piza . Artist
Moderation Cale Garrido . Guest Curator
Location Café C/O Berlin x Barkin'Kitchen
Language English
Admission free / First come, first serve
For the fourth edition of TALKING BOOKS, artist, editor, and researcher Joy Gregory will present Shining Lights: Black Women Photographers in 1980s–90s Britain, published by MACK/Autograph in 2024. This critical anthology is the first to bring together the groundbreaking work of Black women photographers in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s. Spanning documentary and conceptual practices, the book offers a richly illustrated exploration of a significant yet overlooked chapter in the history of photography. In conversation with Joy Gregory, we will reflect on the book’s themes, including the use of photography as a medium of empowerment and the ways these photographers explored and expanded its boundaries.
The book presentation takes place on the occasion of the exhibitions A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography and Silvia Rosi . Protektorat, situating these artists’ voices and practices within a global dialogue on identity, photography, and culture.
Joy Gregory is an award-winning artist specializing in photography, known for her work addressing issues of identity politics and beauty culture. A graduate of Manchester Polytechnic (Manchester Metropolitan University) and the Royal College of Art, she has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, participating in numerous biennales and festivals. Her work is held in prestigious collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the UK Government Art Collection, the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, and Yale University. She is the editor of Shining Lights: Black Women Photographers in 1980s-90s Britain, published by MACK/Autograph in 2024.
Cristina Piza, born in 1963 in Costa Rica, is a photographer based in Berlin. She studied Communication Studies in Mexico City and photography in the UK and Italy. She earned a Master’s in Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute through a Fulbright Grant. In 1992, she co-founded a darkroom collective in Neukölln (Berlin) and worked as a freelance photographer for various European publications. Her key projects include Habana (1993), Havana Dreams (1995), and Rumba (1996); Boys in the Park (1999); Sunday Best (2000); and Memories of a Professional Foreigner (2003). Piza has exhibited internationally and received awards such as the Olympus Fashion Award and the Eddie Adams Fellowship for Photojournalism.