Stuart McPhail Hall

© Dawoud Bey

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Stuart McPhail Hall

by Dawoud Bey
colour polaroid print, 9 May 1998
30 in. x 22 in. (762 mm x 559 mm) each
Commissioned, 1998
Primary Collection
NPG P730

Sitterback to top

  • Stuart McPhail Hall (1932-2014), Sociologist, cultural theorist, academic and political activist; Chair of Iniva and Autograph ABP. Sitter in 2 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Dawoud Bey (1953-), Photographer. Artist or producer of 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

Stuart Hall was photographed at the National Portrait Gallery by Dawoud Bey during a short residency by the photographer. The diptych consists of unique Polacolor photographs created with a 20”x 24” Polaroid camera, one of only five ever made.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 122 Read entry

    Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Stuart McPhail Hall (1932-2014) was a cultural theorist, campaigner for racial justice, scholar and founding editor of the New Left Review. He won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, arriving in 1951. He became Director of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University in 1972 and Professor of Sociology at the Open University in 1979. He was Chair of Autograph ABP (a charity that works internationally in photography and film, cultural identity, race, representation and human rights) and Iniva (the International Institute of Visual Arts). In 1998, the National Portrait Gallery, in partnership with Autograph ABP, commissioned the American photographer Dawoud Bey (b.1953) to create a portrait of Hall for its Collection. The diptych consists of unique photographs created with a 20 x 24-inch Polaroid camera, one of only five ever made.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 273

Placesback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1998back to top

Current affairs

The Human Rights Act is passed giving further effect in UK Law to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act, which came into effect in 2000, gave individuals the opportunity to argue in a British court that their human rights had been breached. As a last resort individuals are still able to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Art and science

Anthony Gormley's monumental sculpture Angel of the North is erected just outside Gateshead. The sculpture is 20 metres tall and has a wingspan of 54 metres. Despite initial local and press controversy, the work is now considered a landmark of the North of England and cannot be missed from the A1 road or East Coast Mainline railway (the main routes from London to Scotland).

International

The British and Irish governments sign the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, which is subsequently endorsed by voters in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at referendums. The Agreement established a new Northern Ireland Assembly, which formed a parliament made up of representatives from different parties. The Assembly has since been suspended and attempts continue for its re-establishment.

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