BMC
The BMC is an arts-based, user-led initiative that creates safe spaces for Black men to explore personal and collective experiences of race, identity, fatherhood, trauma, and wellbeing—often through performance, discussion, and creative expression. Matare joined the group as a visual storyteller, not merely to document but to engage—crafting images that reflect their strength, vulnerability, and resilience.
Through sensitive portraiture and behind-the-scenes moments, Matare captures the emotional intensity of BMC’s workshops and performances, including their acclaimed theatre pieces. His photographs reveal a nuanced tapestry of connection and catharsis—men in shared reflection, laughter, and solemn introspection.
Exhibited alongside live performances and community events, his images function as both artistic documentation and social intervention—challenging stereotypes about Black men and mental health while honoring the individuality of each participant.
Matare’s work with BMC is part of a broader practice committed to reframing narratives around Black identity, masculinity, and visibility in Britain. It stands as a testament to the transformative power of art rooted in community, trust, and lived experience.
The images we see here are an excerpt from the work created with and around the BMC.
“Walk With Me” is an introspective photographic series that examines the lived experience of racial stereotyping through the lens of personal memory. Created during his MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at LCC (UAL), the project is both a quiet protest and a deeply personal reflection on identity, perception, and belonging.
Shot entirely in and Matare’s hometown—the images present empty urban locations that, at first glance, appear ordinary: streets, buildings, staircases, bus stops. But paired with short personal captions, each site becomes charged with memory. These are the exact places where he experienced racial bias—not for who he is, but for how others perceived him based on his skin color.
The absence of people in the photographs is a deliberate aesthetic choice inspired by the work of Michal Iwanowski. It invites the viewer to project, imagine, and reflect. The text-image pairings act as fragments—“quietly violent,” in the words of his professor—revealing how casual or implicit racism accumulates and leaves an imprint over time. One especially jarring account involves police stopping him and searching his mouth; others show more subtle but no less painful exclusions and assumptions.
Influenced by Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, Matare situates his work within a broader discourse on race and the long shadow of colonial imagery. At the same time, Walk With Me is rooted in the everyday—a gesture of authenticity, vulnerability, and resistance. It speaks directly to those who’ve lived similar experiences, while also confronting those who may have never noticed or understood such dynamics before.
Matare envisions the work not just in galleries but embedded within the city itself—empty frames with captions placed at the real sites of the encounters, accompanied by QR codes linking to the full stories. This approach transforms the city into a living archive of personal and collective memory, turning public space into a space of reckoning and empathy.
“Like Father Like Son?” is a poignant photographic series by Tendai Matare, first exhibited in September 2015 at H95 Raum für Kultur in Basel. The project intimately portrays five young men—including Matare’s own brother—who, like the photographer himself, grew up without their fathers.
[h95.ch]
The series delves into the complexities of fatherlessness, exploring how the absence of a paternal figure impacts identity, emotional resilience, and the journey into manhood. Each triptych captures not only the individual but also an image of their closest family relationships—and one with close friends—highlighting the alternative support systems that shaped their lives.
In an interview with TagesWoche, Matare emphasized the shared yet often unspoken experiences among his subjects, noting that while they all understood each other's fatherless backgrounds, discussions on the topic were rare. He aimed to challenge the stereotype that men must suppress vulnerability, stating: “A man has no weaknesses; he doesn't cry,” and highlighting the irony in such societal expectations.
[tageswoche.ch]