Pogus Caesar

As a photographer and artist Caesar has worked in Spain, India, South America and Sweden and Denmark, South Africa, Albania and Jamaica, documenting diverse communities. Caesar's artwork and photographs have been acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), National Portrait Gallery, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery represent important visual documents recording key figures in black British history. Caesar's first publication, Muzik Kinda Sweet, is a photography book featuring legendary black musicians including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones. The foreword for the book was written by Paul Gilroy and it was published by OOM Gallery Archive in 2010. Caesar's second book, Sparkbrook Pride (2011), consists of 70 black-and-white photos of residents of Sparkbrook. The book has a foreword written by Benjamin Zephaniah and an introduction by Paris-based photographer Nigel Dickinson. In 2015 his photographs documenting the Handsworth riots of 1985 was presented by the V&A at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Caesar was featured in Jacqui MacDonald's book Portraits of Black Achievement: composing successful careers' (Lifetime Careers Ltd, 2001). The book included extended interviews with 70 black achievers, describing what it means to be black in Britain today. In 2018 Caesar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Birmingham City University for his outstanding contribution to the visual arts. Caesar also made the list of '175 Brummies Who Inspire.' This includes inspirational people across arts, business, education, sports and science who either hail from Birmingham or have made a significant contribution to the City.

During the early 1980s Caesar became director of the West Midlands Minority Arts Service. He was also the first Chairman of Birmingham International Film & Television Festival. For the Arts Council of Great Britain he curated with Lubiana Himid and contributed to exhibitions by Black artists, including Into the Open (1984) and Caribbean Expressions in Britain (1986).

During the late 1980s Caesar began working in British television – originally as a journalist on Channel 4's Black on Black, then as producer and director of entertainment, sport and multicultural programmes for Central Television, Carlton Television and BBC. Radio programmes include Mr & Mrs Smith BRMB Radio and The Windrush E. Smith Show BBC West Midlands. In 1993 he founded a production company, Windrush Productions - programmes include I'm Black in Britain, Respect, Drumbeat and the award-winning multicultural series Xpress.

Dr Pogus Caesar (born 1953) is a British photographer, conceptual artist, archivist, author, curator, television producer and director. He was born in St Kitts, West Indies, and grew up in Birmingham, England.