Portraits of a Global Law School

The Dickson Poon School of Law has unveiled new exhibitions as part of its visual arts programme for the 2015-16 academic year. Portraits of a Global Law School is a photo exhibition that celebrates the School’s global community through images and recollections of past and present staff, students and alumni.

50 people sat for their portrait in Somerset House East Wing, the home of The Dickson Poon School of Law. Everyone photographed was also interviewed about their time at King’s, what the Law School meant to them, and asked to recall their memories of working and studying here. The anecdotes and recollections speak to the broad and varied experience of the Law School’s community.

Current student Zheng Xi Yong connects his experience with his performances around the world as part of a cappella group All the King’s Men. Since joining King’s he has performed in Milan, New York and Los Angeles. Alumna Rashida Abdulal runs the UK’s first inter-firm diversity network, Noticed, which aims to support people from ethnic minority backgrounds entering the legal profession. Alumna Rosemary Jackson QC’s experience at King’s eventually led to her becoming the first female barrister to practice in the field on construction law.

Photographer Eileen Perrier, who has previously worked with Tate Modern and The Photographers’ Gallery, was commissioned for the project. Eileen shot the portraits with a Hasselblad camera, framing them in the medium’s classic aspect ratio.

In celebrating the achievements of law alumni, students and staff from a diverse array of backgrounds, the School is working in support of the university’s Race Equality Charter Mark. Creating a space for an open dialogue between the School and its wider community is central to tackling prejudice and perceived barriers. The project functions, not just as an opportunity for individuals to tell their personal stories, but also for an understanding of the School’s collective identity that goes beyond superficial categories of gender, race and ability.

Find out more about Portraits of a Global Law School on our visual arts webpage.

The project can now be viewed in its entirety on the School's Flickr account.

A selection of the portraits have also been installed in the East Wing of Somerset House.

For further information about the project please contact kieran.mcgrath@kcl.ac.uk