Clovis Salmon, the pioneering UK documentary maker, has died. Known by his nickname ‘Sam the Wheels’ and self-taught, Salmon came to prominence capturing the Brixton riots in 1981, documenting the experiences of police brutality and racism meted out to his friends and family in the South London Black community.
Using a Super-8 camera concealed in his coat, his footage of the two day disturbance has been used in countless documentaries and films since, regarded as one of the primary sources for the events that would have a lasting imprint on race relations in the UK.
Salmon was part of the Windrush generation, arriving in Britain in 1954 from Jamaica, heeding Britain’s call to Commonwealth countries to help rebuild postwar Britain. Having run his own bike shop in Jamaica, he joined Holdsworth Cycles as a bike repair man.
A part-time Pentecostal preacher, he also made films documenting church services and community events in his neighbourhood.
