Take me to church

Local photographer Holly Cato discusses the Tottenham uprising, Caribbean Christianity and Black British History ahead of her debut solo exhibition
By Alice Kemp-Habib

City Mission Church in Leytonstone. Credit: Holly-Marie Cato

On 6th August 2011, Holly-Marie Cato was snapping photographs at The Palace Cathedral on Tottenham High Road, as congregants prepared to stage an apocalypse-themed play. As an architecture student home for the summer holidays, she was no professional. But Holly-Marie had time on her hands and a point-and-shoot at her disposal, so she agreed to help out. While actors busied about backstage, crowds were gathering outside Tottenham Police Station on the opposite side of the road.

“Intermittently I kept going outside with my camera. It went from 25 people, to 50 people, to the High Road being shut down,” says Holly-Marie, who grew up between Totteham and Edmonton. “Eventually, 500 people filed into the theatre to watch a play about chaos and the end of the world, and outside was the start of the Tottenham riots.”

The cathedral doors were locked to protect those inside, so Holly-Marie climbed into a roof-top room, where she filmed “molotov cocktails being thrown and buildings being set alight” from the window. Her footage was picked up by news outlets around the world, laying the groundwork for a photography and film career that has seen her work with countless big-name brands (including Nike, American Express and Apple).

Nearly a decade on from The Palace Cathedral lock-in, Holly-Marie is returning to church with her debut solo exhibition – O Heavy is the Mantle – opening on Saturday, 1st October at the Leica Gallery in Mayfair.

Presented in time for Black History Month, the exhibition follows Holly-Marie’s uncle Herbert Cato in the days before he steps down as presiding bishop of City Mission Church in Leytonstone. The images, which are dually intimate and exuberant, explore Christianity in the Caribbean community, and the immense responsibility shouldered by church leaders.

Bishop Herbert Cato. Credit: Holly-Marie Cato

“So many times when we think about Black History Month, we think about America and the civil rights movement, when there are people here who are making history everyday,” says Holly-Marie. “That church has been standing there for longer than I’ve been alive. They are a staple in the community.”

Heavy is the Mantle comes as part of a wider Black History Month programme at the gallery, curated by Holly-Marie (who is Leica’s first Black, female ambassador). Throughout October, there will be a series of talks from pioneering photographers, including Charlie Phillips, Eddie Otchere and Simon Frederick. Holly-Marie and Leica are also offering in-person portfolio reviews for 15 photographers, one of whom will receive a £5,000 grant to continue their work in the field of photography (two runners up will receive £2,500).

Alongside the Leica exhibition, Holly-Marie recently led a seven-day course for aspiring Black photographers in response to the Southbank Centre’s show In The Black Fantastic. The resulting images are now on display on level two of the blue side foyer in the Royal Festival Hall.

“I think it is important to champion Black artists because we’ve always had narratives told about us. There’s something revolutionary about us being able to tell our own stories,” says Holly-Marie. “So in everything I do, I try to open doors to more diverse voices and perspectives. The glass ceiling isn’t broken if I’m the only one going through it, and I’m really about breaking the glass ceiling.”

‘Heavy is the Mantle’ will take place between 1st October and 1st November at Leica Gallery London, 64-66 Duke Street, W1K 6JD. For more information about the talks, portfolio reviews and the grants, visit: tinyurl.com/LEICA-BHM

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