[2] Notable recent shows by Phillips include How Great Thou Art, "a sensitive photographic documentary of the social and emotional traditions that surround death in London's African Caribbean community".

"[11] He joined his parents in London, on 17 August 1956, and the family lived among other West Indian immigrants in Notting Hill, at the time a poor area of the capital characterised by Rachmanism and racism.

[14][15] Notwithstanding early dreams to become a naval architect or an opera singer,[16][12][17] he began his photographic career by accident when, while still very young, he was given a Kodak Brownie by a black American serviceman.

Phillips taught himself to use it ("I bought a book from Boots on how to take photos and learnt from my mistakes")[18] and began to photograph life in Notting Hill,[19] making his prints in the family bathroom after his parents had retired to bed.

[17] After joining the Merchant Navy for a while (serving as a galley boy and developing an interest in marine biology and maritime history),[14] Phillips travelled widely in Europe, to Sweden, Switzerland, France and Italy.

[19] Described as "A card carrying member of the 'sex, drugs and rock n roll era'", he ended up at a party where he took photographs of Jimi Hendrix but ironically could get no British news editor to publish them.

[29] Introduced by writer Mike Phillips (no relation), the book includes photographs of everyday life in the area, covering poor housing conditions, musical entertainment and political activism.

"[31] Reviewing the exhibition in the Nottingham Post, Mark Patterson called it "a reminder of a London and an England that has almost been wiped out of existence by redevelopment; a country where the business-driven 'regeneration' imperative has squeezed out authenticity and local texture.

"[38] In The Spectator, Ian Thomson wrote: "In Phillips’s moving and often beautiful images, dating from 1962 to the present, the bereaved are seen to face the mystery of the end of life in stush black suits, spidery hat veils, Rastafari head-ties, spiffy trilbies and strictly-come-dancehall white socks....

"[39] In October 2023, How Great Thou Art opened in Mayfair, central London, at the Centre for British Photography, the first time a solo exhibition has been presented in main space there.

[71] In 2017, Phillips appeared on the BBC Radio 3 programme Private Passions, his musical choices including works by Verdi, Puccini, Dave Brubeck, Scott Joplin, in addition to the hymn "How Great Thou Art".

[73] In February 2022, Phillips headed CasildART's list of the top six Black British photographers, alongside James Barnor, Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock, Pogus Caesar and Vanley Burke.