At the end of 2021 a London-wide billboard campaign announced BLACK RESILIENCE - the latest chapter of THE NEW CHIEFTAINS project - and called for Londoners to submit their nominations. Since then, Agenda has been working behind the scenes to shoot the portraits and undertake the interviews with the nominated sitters, capturing their energy and their stories to share with audiences.

2024 is the 10th anniversary of the launch of THE NEW CHIEFTAINS. A tribe of talented people who have natural prowess, tenacity, leadership, and individuality, this is the story of extraordinary ordinary people.

To celebrate this tribe, and the 10 years of passion invested in telling their stories, Agenda plans to arrange a few events across the year - the year of BLACK RESILIENCE - including publishing a book of this new chapter, arranging supper clubs between Chieftains from across the series to see what alchemy could be made between them, and to develop the project beyond its current scale.

“My vision for THE NEW CHIEFTAINS is to create timeless and connected portraits that give the viewer a sense of the intimacy and power of the individual, and the connectedness of that individual to the wider group. Although essentially I am a portrait photographer, I often meet the people who sit for me at a moment when they are in a moment of change. My artistic practice is about the journey of transformation we go on together in realising an image that speaks powerfully of them and their character, their journey. Capturing that change, that story, and then sharing that story to inspire change and transformation in others, is what drives me as an artist.”

THE NEW CHIEFTAINS has huge potential as one of the key ways in which Agenda feels he can create impact for the wider community. It has been self funded for ten years, and now we need supporters & champions to grow and scale it what it needs to be - a platform that celebrates the lives and achievements of individuals not because of their celebrity but because of their extraordinary commitment to realising what they believe they have been sent here to achieve; and in turn one which empowers all those who come into contact with it to make change in their own lives.

We are looking for donations to help Agenda invest in creating and deliver powerful marketing around these stories, and develop the content and publishing opportunities THE NEW CHIEFTAINS presents. We are looking for donations in the following ranges to help Agenda achieve a target of GBP 20,000. Each person who is able to donate funds to this next phase will receive:

GBP 50-250: A signed pre-publication copy of the BLACK RESILIENCE book

GBP 250-500: A signed pre-publication copy of the BLACK RESILIENCE book and a signed A5 artist print of one portrait from the chapter

GBP 500 & above: A signed pre-publication copy of the BLACK RESILIENCE book, a signed A4 artist print of one portrait from the chapter and a VIP + 1 invitation to the BLACK RESILIENCE launch events

For ease, we have set up a PayPal Me link to collect any donations that people feel able to contribute: paypal.me/studiomarvelry; all donations will be acknowledged by email confirming receipt. If you would like further information, or to talk to Agenda about his THE NEW CHIEFTAINS project before supporting, please do complete the form on this page and we will revert back to you.

If all of those are out of your reach, but you would like to support, let us know if you have expertise to share, or could consider purchasing a copy of THE NEW CHIEFTAINS: AMBASSADORS book for yourself or to gift to someone you think might also be interested in supporting.

We have also developed a THE NEW CHIEFTAINS supporters badge which you can include in your email signature to help spread the word; let us know if we can send you a copy to upload.