Beverly Collins-Roberts

Beverly will create a documentary film concerning the aftermath of slavery on both sides of the world. In 2002 she discovered the secret of slavery and plantations in her hometown of Camden, later revealing to the world in a multi-media art exhibition, her images of the Slave Mansion Pomona Hall, which had never been seen before. From this she made a short documentary film and even traveled to Ghana to open up a dialogue with the people there. This part of the project will be a documentary film in which she will highlight our cultural differences as well as what we have in common, serving as her own personal journey as well as the journey of many others. It will be about those conversations we don't want to have, but must: about the umbilical cord being severed forever and what it does to us all.

Beverly has been a fine art documentary photographer for the last 30 years. She has witnessed first-hand Camden go from the prosperous years where everyone worked and lived well, to a city that has been described as the most dangerous city in America.  Beverly’s images are of the children, the elders, and of the aged structures in her hometown. Her photographs show the eyes of the people, amongst the decay of the structures. Upon discovering in 2002 the secret history of slavery in her hometown she began three years of extensive research. In 2005 she curated an exhibition, which revealed her photographs of Pomona Hall the 18th century Big House. Later that year she organized the three-month long Still Standing Project, to recognize the enslaved Africans who toiled and suffered in Camden, which culminated in workshops, lectures, a silent procession, and the first-ever slave route tour. Her relentless research and fearless documentation resulted in Unhushed, a short documentary film, which she wrote, directed and produced as part of the Scribe Video Precious Places History Project, chronicling the story of slavery and plantations in Camden. In 2007, the film received honors at the Harlem Stage Film Festival and screened in the Philadelphia Film Festival.  She is presently working on her second documentary film The Journey, about the effects of slavery on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in Accra, Ghana and Camden, New Jersey, and is planning a multimedia exhibit, which will include images and video interviews of Ghana, a 30 year retrospect of portraits of Camden and stories of it’s elders, and the images of the Slave Plantation Big House, Pomona Hall.

Beverly is a Camden, NJ native, photographer, curator, filmmaker, historian and arts educator who is developing an exhibition and documentary film project titled UNHUSHED, which reveals the history of the African slave trade conducted in and around Camden and its continuing cultural and social impact in the city. This work will weave together stories, images, artifacts, and contemporary artwork developed by Beverly and artists from her community.