‘I was one of the few people able to document it’: shooting the Black Panthers – in pictures

From bustling Free Huey rallies to private moments smoking with Angela Davis, Stephen Shames’s photographs tell the revolutionary organisation’s incredible story

Main image: ‘They understood the media’ … Black Panther Party, Oakland, California, 28 July 1968

Mon 23 Jun 2025 08.00 CEST

Angela Davis trial, Oakland, California, 12 November 1969

‘They understood the media and culture,’ says Stephen Shames of the Black Panthers, who he photographed in the 1960s and 70s. ‘Black leather jackets and berets like the French Resistance – they commanded attention and projected strength and hope with their “hip” clothes and discipline.’ This image shows Angela Davis speaking in Defermery park at a Free Huey rally. This photo is Angela Davis’s portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC. Black Panthers and Revolution is at Amar Gallery, London, until 6 July