BIOGRAPHY
Danijah was born in Kingston, Jamaica. According to some official papers it was 1955, others have 1953. His given name at birth was Fitzroy C. Sang. As soon as he started attending Kingston College at thirteen, he left Jamaica to join his mother and sister in London.
After the second global war, the world was being reorganised. During the 1950-60s, Jamaicans were offered the opportunity to work abroad. Tens of thousands immigrated to America and England. Civil Rights, Black Power, Rastafarians, Remove African Apartheid, Black Panthers, Angela Davis, Soledad Brothers, were among the large numbers of political and social movements in the late 1960s -early 1970s.
Living in cosmopolitan London, popular youth cultures at that time, heightened his awareness and stimulated his worldview. At fourteen he organised and directed a short drama titled ‘Playground Trauma’ and presented the final edit as a colour slideshow.
A class project at secondary school in Hackney, East London. It was the first time he held a camera, working naturally with a level of ability, skill and creativity. From then, the love affair with the photographic medium began.
Still in school, Danijah photographed birthday parties, wedding ceremonies, portraits, and all other types of family events for the growing African-Caribbean communities in London. From a serious hobby, his photography practice became a life-long vocation.
Leaving art school, he participated in residencies, art in education programs at Whitechapel Art Gallery, and workshops organised through major art institutions, museums and galleries throughout the UK. During the 1980s-90s, Danijah was an active member of the Black Arts Movement. He wrote articles for ‘Artrage’ a monthly Arts & Culture magazine.
His official name change was completed in 1992, and was symbolic of the shift to identify with the dominant factors in his DNA make-up. From the start of the new century, Danijah functioned as a nomad, living and working wherever he may be at the time. He was in England when the Covid-19 lockdown began. He now live and work between Addis Ababa and the West Midlands, England.
The film clip on a loop below, is the capital city Kingston, Jamaica during the 1950s-60s.
