Jean-Louis N’cho
Côte d'Ivoire
Jean-Louis N’cho
Côte d'Ivoire
Jean-Louis N’cho is a student and amateur photographer originally from Ivory Coast, currently residing in France since February 2021, where he is pursuing his studies. His photography journey began in 2016 to express his emotions and find personal fulfillment. Through his photographs, he aims to showcase the beauty of Africa, including its diverse cultures and the abundant natural resources that make this continent truly magnificent.
He is part of a group of photographers who exclusively use mobile phones to capture images, known as "IPhotographers." Initially, he turned to his phone because it was the most accessible technology for him. DSLR cameras were costly, but his phone was within reach. Over time, he embraced this medium as a creative challenge. He firmly believes that creativity knows no bounds, and it is the most crucial aspect of the artistic process. He realized that while technology and tools may come at a price, creativity itself is free and stands as the cornerstone of artistic expression. Once he grasped this concept, he stopped worrying about the equipment and focused on harnessing his creativity.
He sees this opportunity as a great platform to share his work with a wider audience and demonstrate that even with limited resources, remarkable and impactful art can be created.
“Road to Success”
I captured this series of photographs during a journey to Cosrou, a village in the south of Ivory Coast. The title of this series is "Road to Success." As you can see, there is a man on a canoe holding a flower in his hand. The flower symbolizes his goal and success. After a long and adventurous journey, he achieves his objective in a beautiful place where everything is wonderful, and the water shimmers like gold.
“Road to Success”
I captured this series of photographs during a journey to Cosrou, a village in the south of Ivory Coast. The title of this series is "Road to Success." As you can see, there is a man on a canoe holding a flower in his hand. The flower symbolizes his goal and success. After a long and adventurous journey, he achieves his objective in a beautiful place where everything is wonderful, and the water shimmers like gold.
Jean Luc Konkobo
Côte d'Ivoire
Jean Luc Konkobo
Côte d'Ivoire
Born on August 28, 2002, in Abidjan, Perfect Black, whose real name is Jean Luc KONKOBO, is an Ivorian artist of Burkinabe origin. Growing up between two worlds - Ivorian and Burkinabe - he was early exposed to questions related to differences, identities, and culture. His early exposure to these questions led him to develop an interest in artistic pursuits.
A jack-of-all-trades, Perfect Black is passionate about exploring various forms of artistic expression. After studying architecture and pursuing a career in modeling, he officially ventured into photography in 2022.
Perfect Black's work often carries a surreal quality. Through his collages and photomontages, he communicates his admiration for the aesthetic richness of African traditions. At the same time, he highlights his anxieties and questions related to the evolution of contemporary societies on the continent.
"Trance"
Upon his return to Abidjan eight years ago, Perfect Black was fascinated by the modernity displayed by the Ivorian capital. As a true cultural crossroads, this bustling metropolis contrasted starkly with his hometown of Ouagadougou. A cosmopolitan city, rich in its diversity, it seemed to rival Western and Eastern megacities in many aspects. However, despite the city's splendor and the vibrancy of its inhabitants, the dazzling modernity of this gem also revealed a constant: a society that appeared to have forgotten a part of its cultural heritage. This realization shocked the artist, as he viewed cultural heritage as a crucial element for the coherent development of the continent. In this first photographic series, the artist retraces the journey of his awakening. The following eight photomontages narrate his trance—a trance experienced through constant questioning about the place of African heritage and African society in the contemporary world. A work of surrealistic fiction, "Transe" visually represents the artist's inquiries, which drive him to advocate for African heritage art.
"Trance"
Upon his return to Abidjan eight years ago, Perfect Black was fascinated by the modernity displayed by the Ivorian capital. As a true cultural crossroads, this bustling metropolis contrasted starkly with his hometown of Ouagadougou. A cosmopolitan city, rich in its diversity, it seemed to rival Western and Eastern megacities in many aspects. However, despite the city's splendor and the vibrancy of its inhabitants, the dazzling modernity of this gem also revealed a constant: a society that appeared to have forgotten a part of its cultural heritage. This realization shocked the artist, as he viewed cultural heritage as a crucial element for the coherent development of the continent. In this first photographic series, the artist retraces the journey of his awakening. The following eight photomontages narrate his trance—a trance experienced through constant questioning about the place of African heritage and African society in the contemporary world. A work of surrealistic fiction, "Transe" visually represents the artist's inquiries, which drive him to advocate for African heritage art.
Jorge Luis Alvarez
Cuba
Jorge Luis Alvarez
Cuba
Born in Cuba in 1970 and based in Belgium since 2010. Graduated in Literature and English Language at the University of Havana, graduated in Photography at the International Institute for Journalism José Martí in Havana, Cuba. His production focuses on subjects such as cultural heritage, migrations, religion, and identity. His projects have been showcased widely including the “Diaspora Cuba” exhibition, curated by Simon Njami as part of Bamako Encounters 2003. He’s also been part of shows at the Conciergerie in Paris, Robert Mann Gallery and Skoto Gallery in New York, Centre for Fine Arts Bozar in Brussels, Kornhausforum in Bern, Fine Arts museum in Havana, and Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo. He’s part of publications such as “Open Maps: Contemporary Latin American Photography 1992-2002”, Barcelona, Lunwerg Editions, 2005, and “The light in cuban eyes” by Lake Forest College on Madeleine P. Plonsker’s Collection of Contemporary Cuban Photography 2015. In 2003 Hollywood actor Viggo Mortensen alongside editor Pilar Pérez published a monograph on the body of work called “Trance” by the editorial Percevalpress. His work is part of the collections of the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Pinacoteca do Estado São Paulo, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, FNAC Photographic Collection in Paris and Fototeca de Cuba in Havana.
"The Way Beyond"
This project is part of a never-ending search for answers related to my identity and family ancestry. I create a universe in which I mix self-portraiture with an iconography through which I try to use a metaphorical language inspired by the rituals of faith and dances that induce the trance connecting us with the spiritual world, but also highlighting key elements within these cultures, many of which have as their backbone the love and respect for nature as well as for the ancestors. This project is fueled by my interpretation of family stories, of my own dreams, but also inspired by what I’ve read in some stories from African cosmogony which have shaped the way knowledge and wisdom are shared in certain cultures through oral tradition. Self-portrait is a recurrent tool that has helped me throughout the creative process to connect directly with the story I want to tell, not only from the aesthetic point of view, but it also makes me an active participant of it. The intense dark tones on my images do not seek to emphasize my ethnocultural background but just to hide what I don’t want to be seen. Like secrets that are not meant to be revealed, as well as the invisible, but also leading the viewer to focus just on the very tiny details I want the attention upon, where frequently what you see is not what you think it is. The conception process is rather a kind of “journey” where every single piece I create is part of a puzzle which I hope one day would lead me to beginning to understand, accept, adapt as well as respect both who I am and where I come from, in order to better assimilate the unknown.
"The Way Beyond"
This project is part of a never-ending search for answers related to my identity and family ancestry. I create a universe in which I mix self-portraiture with an iconography through which I try to use a metaphorical language inspired by the rituals of faith and dances that induce the trance connecting us with the spiritual world, but also highlighting key elements within these cultures, many of which have as their backbone the love and respect for nature as well as for the ancestors. This project is fueled by my interpretation of family stories, of my own dreams, but also inspired by what I’ve read in some stories from African cosmogony which have shaped the way knowledge and wisdom are shared in certain cultures through oral tradition. Self-portrait is a recurrent tool that has helped me throughout the creative process to connect directly with the story I want to tell, not only from the aesthetic point of view, but it also makes me an active participant of it. The intense dark tones on my images do not seek to emphasize my ethnocultural background but just to hide what I don’t want to be seen. Like secrets that are not meant to be revealed, as well as the invisible, but also leading the viewer to focus just on the very tiny details I want the attention upon, where frequently what you see is not what you think it is. The conception process is rather a kind of “journey” where every single piece I create is part of a puzzle which I hope one day would lead me to beginning to understand, accept, adapt as well as respect both who I am and where I come from, in order to better assimilate the unknown.
Jorge López Muñoz
Spain
Jorge López Muñoz
Spain
Jorge is a Spanish photographer and visual artist based in Madrid. He has a Photography Degree and a Master of Fine Art Photography and Professional Projects. In 2022 he was the winner of Descubrimientos PHotoESPAÑA and will have an individual exhibition at the Festival in 2023. His work has been showed throughout the world, highlighting solo exhibitions in KATAJANOKKA OLD CUSTOMS HOUSE (Helsinki, Finland), PADDINGTON TOWN HALL (Sydney, Australia), MISIOU MANSION (Ioannina, Greece), VELES E VENTS Building (Valencia, Spain), Sala EFTI (Madrid, Spain), FOLA Fototeca Latinoamericana (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and No4 Gallery (Warsaw, Poland), among others. Also group exhibitions in Whitebox Gallery (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Rectorate Gallery (Novi Sad, Serbia), Centro Cultural Las Cigarreras (Alicante, Spain), Centro Cultural Las Claras (Plasencia, Spain), Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Madrid, Spain), Galería Blanca Soto (Madrid, Spain), 59Rivoli Gallery (Paris, France), Somerset House (London, UK), MUO Museum of Arts and Crafts (Zagreb, Croatia), Sarajevo City Hall (Bosnia-Herzegovina), NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein (Aachen, Germany), Four Freedoms Park (New York, USA) and Kent State University Campus (Ohio, USA), among others. His photographs have been published in national and international magazines and media. He has created the images for two books: A QUELAR CABANYAL (Instituto Valenciano de la Cultura / Generalitat Valenciana, 2019) and ANTONIO ALVARADO BAJA COSTURA (Museo del Traje / Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte de España, 2022). Some of the awards he has received are PDN Photo Annual Photography Contest 2015, CANSON ART School Awards 2016, SAN JOSE FOTO Festival 2016, ZEISS Photography Award 2016, AI-AP LAF5 Latin American Fotografía 2016, CARTA BLANCA 2017, II Premio de Fotografía Carlos Pérez Siquier 2017, Premios de Fotografía Profesional LUX 2018 and 2020, ADELPHI 1st Photo Award 2019, HELSINKI Photo Festival 2019 and BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY Portrait of Britain 2020 and 2022.
“The King (Fandom project)”
Fandom is a new documentary photography personal project, which studies the fan phenomenon as a cultural and social manifestation, analyzing the popular iconography of the musical medium and its influence on our history, contemporary life and collective behavior. A project that attempts to reflect both who we were, are, and what we dream of. The fanatical admiration towards an idol is understood as the visualization in another person of the values and attributes that are desired for oneself. There is a search for identity and the meaning of life. The conformation of idols, halfway between the perception of reality and the construction of the desires of individuals, is highly influenced by the content and dynamics of the media. A large part of the people admired by citizens are characters created or promoted by the mass media. Tribute bands or artists mimic the songs and style of a certain singer, such as the so-called "imitators" of Elvis Presley (King of Rock) or Michael Jackson (King of Pop). In the world of performing arts, the celebration of tributes is very common, especially in the United States, where special importance is given to cinema and popular music. An army of copies helps us understand the original. There is an obsessive nature to the culture of fame and pop icons. But, what are the values on which these media idols are based? To what extent are they part of daily life and the horizon of citizen aspirations? The fan phenomenon is ageless, but it has undergone a mutation parallel to technological advances. From venerating intangible icons to exchanging characters directly with the idol in question. Has the life of a fan changed so much? Has the magic been lost?
“The King (Fandom project)”
Fandom is a new documentary photography personal project, which studies the fan phenomenon as a cultural and social manifestation, analyzing the popular iconography of the musical medium and its influence on our history, contemporary life and collective behavior. A project that attempts to reflect both who we were, are, and what we dream of. The fanatical admiration towards an idol is understood as the visualization in another person of the values and attributes that are desired for oneself. There is a search for identity and the meaning of life. The conformation of idols, halfway between the perception of reality and the construction of the desires of individuals, is highly influenced by the content and dynamics of the media. A large part of the people admired by citizens are characters created or promoted by the mass media. Tribute bands or artists mimic the songs and style of a certain singer, such as the so-called "imitators" of Elvis Presley (King of Rock) or Michael Jackson (King of Pop). In the world of performing arts, the celebration of tributes is very common, especially in the United States, where special importance is given to cinema and popular music. An army of copies helps us understand the original. There is an obsessive nature to the culture of fame and pop icons. But, what are the values on which these media idols are based? To what extent are they part of daily life and the horizon of citizen aspirations? The fan phenomenon is ageless, but it has undergone a mutation parallel to technological advances. From venerating intangible icons to exchanging characters directly with the idol in question. Has the life of a fan changed so much? Has the magic been lost?
Lago Bouabré Aubin
Côte d'Ivoire
Lago Bouabré Aubin
Côte d'Ivoire
Born on June 27, 1996, in Daloa, a city in Côte d'Ivoire, LAGO Bouabré Aubin Junior holds a degree in industrial computer science and maintenance. It was in 2016 that he developed a passion for photography. He began as an intern at an advertising agency. In 2018, he was recruited by the INNOV PROD agency as an advertising photographer, known on social media under the name Lago Juju. Over time, he discovered his passion for dark and expressive portraits and decided to refine them to convey more emotions. This approach has led to the sale of several of his works, both nationally and internationally. As a finalist in the Grand Creative Tournament competition, he was recruited by the renowned photographer Aziz Touré at NUMERIS PROD as an artistic director and photographer.
“The world of albinos”
Albinism in Africa raises many questions. Indeed, in our society, being born albino is often seen as a "curse," leading to judgment, neglect, and marginalization of these exceptional individuals. Why does such an attitude persist? The project "THE WORLD OF ALBINOS" aims, on one hand, to remind us that just as we do not choose our race, we do not choose to be born albino either. On the other hand, its purpose is to raise awareness and change the perception of these "different" people due to their appearance, who, deep down, are similar to everyone else and rightfully belong in society. "I WAS BORN ALBINO, I AM PROUD OF MY UNIQUENESS, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIFE, I AM NOT AN ANIMAL FOR SACRIFICE."
“The world of albinos”
Albinism in Africa raises many questions. Indeed, in our society, being born albino is often seen as a "curse," leading to judgment, neglect, and marginalization of these exceptional individuals. Why does such an attitude persist? The project "THE WORLD OF ALBINOS" aims, on one hand, to remind us that just as we do not choose our race, we do not choose to be born albino either. On the other hand, its purpose is to raise awareness and change the perception of these "different" people due to their appearance, who, deep down, are similar to everyone else and rightfully belong in society. "I WAS BORN ALBINO, I AM PROUD OF MY UNIQUENESS, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIFE, I AM NOT AN ANIMAL FOR SACRIFICE."
Louis Oke-Agbo
Benin
Louis Oke-Agbo
Benin
Louis Oke-Agbo, a versatile artist and mental health researcher, began his artistic journey in 1998 with photography training at Porto Novo's VIDEO PALACE Center. Specializing in photographic collection preservation at the School of African Heritage, he deepened his expertise. In 2017, Louis ventured into mental health research at Day Hospitals and Specialized Centers in Blois and Brussels. His artistry is showcased through captivating solo exhibitions, such as "Mental Health Exhibition" (2016) and "Rites and Ritualities" (2018). Exhibitions in Grand Lyon, the Marina Palace, and the European Union Ambassador's Residence (2022) marked milestones. Louis's commitment to captivating audiences through photography and mental health research is steadfast.
“All for One”
From a general perspective, everyone needs art therapy. In the Beninese tradition, the environment is carefully considered, and the elements are revered as humans engage with and become adept at these elements. I capture images of the various "little gods" and human bodies, superimposing them to create a composite form. It was through this work that I became aware of the environmental degradation caused by human beings, such as climate change resulting from our ever-increasing needs. We use phones, require clothing, and travel, disrupting the natural elements and often forgetting to respect our environment.
If photography serves as a tool for personal healing, it's because I utilized this medium to reconnect with my culture. This tool helped me rediscover my own story and, in turn, allowed me to rebuild connections with others. It is through this form of self-care that anyone can use to raise global awareness—a medium that promotes communication for all, from children to the elderly. Through my photos, I urge all individuals to superimpose themselves on the elements as a means of healing, which is why I consider my photography to be therapeutic. The selection I present here serves to explain to the general public my approach in contributing to a greater appreciation of the unique relationship between humanity and nature.
“All for One”
From a general perspective, everyone needs art therapy. In the Beninese tradition, the environment is carefully considered, and the elements are revered as humans engage with and become adept at these elements. I capture images of the various "little gods" and human bodies, superimposing them to create a composite form. It was through this work that I became aware of the environmental degradation caused by human beings, such as climate change resulting from our ever-increasing needs. We use phones, require clothing, and travel, disrupting the natural elements and often forgetting to respect our environment.
If photography serves as a tool for personal healing, it's because I utilized this medium to reconnect with my culture. This tool helped me rediscover my own story and, in turn, allowed me to rebuild connections with others. It is through this form of self-care that anyone can use to raise global awareness—a medium that promotes communication for all, from children to the elderly. Through my photos, I urge all individuals to superimpose themselves on the elements as a means of healing, which is why I consider my photography to be therapeutic. The selection I present here serves to explain to the general public my approach in contributing to a greater appreciation of the unique relationship between humanity and nature.
Ly Lagazelle
Côte d'Ivoire
Ly Lagazelle
Côte d'Ivoire
In 2007, during the Visual Arts Festival at the Donwahi Foundation, Ly Lagazelle discovered her passion for photography. This revelation led her to immerse herself deeply in the works of renowned photographers such as Sebastiao Salgado, Josef Koudelka, Raymond Depardon, and Seydou Keita. These celebrated artists sparked her curiosity, and Ly Lagazelle became a self-taught photographer.
Inspired by the approach of these photography masters, she turned to digital photography for its versatility in image processing, allowing her to express herself more expressively. Her artistic quest led her to documentary photography, and she traveled through sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Myanmar to capture lived human experiences and express her spirituality through her lens.
After presenting her project "Les Silencieuses" in Marrakech, Ly Lagazelle returned to Abidjan to exhibit "INSTINCTIVE" as part of the Cité des Arts #3. In 2018, she represented Ivory Coast and Morocco in the collective exhibition "afrO URban" in New York, Montreal, Melbourne, and Sydney. For the Dakar Biennale, she collaborated with the FAAP collective of photographers in the "Le Carrefour" project. She was selected for the "Discovering Identity to Assert Oneself in Homeland" project during the Lili Women festival in Ivory Coast in 2018. Ly Lagazelle continues to exhibit worldwide, exploring themes ranging from equity and women's rights to the human impact on the economy, all while paying homage to Afro descendants through her works. She makes her return to Ivory Coast with an exhibition titled "Cordage" at the National Library of Plateau in Abidjan, demonstrating her commitment to contemporary art.
“The war dance at the Ebrié generations festival”
The Ebrié generations festival is an annual celebration deeply rooted in the culture of the Ebrié people in Côte d'Ivoire. This festival is an opportunity to pass on knowledge, traditions, and values to new generations while honoring the ancestors. At the heart of this celebration is the war dance, an essential element that embodies the strength, courage, and martial heritage of the Ebrié people.
The war dance is an impressive spectacle that transports spectators back to the glorious past of the Ebrié people as proud and fearless warriors. Dancers wear traditional costumes like feather headdresses, carved masks, and beaded ornaments, their bodies coated in natural pigments, creating an appearance that is both intimidating and majestic. Every movement is calculated, every gesture charged with meaning.
This dance tells the story of the bravery of these warriors in past battles, mimicking battle movements, brandishing spears and shields, while executing acrobatic leaps and synchronized steps. The accompanying music blends the rhythms of drums, xylophones, and traditional string instruments.
During the Ebrié generations festival, the war dance symbolizes the transmission of martial skills and cultural heritage to younger generations. Elders teach the younger generations the movements, songs, and stories, perpetuating the tradition. Young dancers also learn values of respect, unity, and discipline through this practice.
The war dance reinforces the sense of identity and pride of the Ebrié people, reminding them of their rich history and resilience in the face of challenges. It embodies their determination to preserve their culture and heritage. However, some view it as folkloric, raising questions about the identity of traditional African peoples, the influence of Western cultures and religions, and the impact of colonial legacies on cultural repression.
“The war dance at the Ebrié generations festival”
The Ebrié generations festival is an annual celebration deeply rooted in the culture of the Ebrié people in Côte d'Ivoire. This festival is an opportunity to pass on knowledge, traditions, and values to new generations while honoring the ancestors. At the heart of this celebration is the war dance, an essential element that embodies the strength, courage, and martial heritage of the Ebrié people.
The war dance is an impressive spectacle that transports spectators back to the glorious past of the Ebrié people as proud and fearless warriors. Dancers wear traditional costumes like feather headdresses, carved masks, and beaded ornaments, their bodies coated in natural pigments, creating an appearance that is both intimidating and majestic. Every movement is calculated, every gesture charged with meaning.
This dance tells the story of the bravery of these warriors in past battles, mimicking battle movements, brandishing spears and shields, while executing acrobatic leaps and synchronized steps. The accompanying music blends the rhythms of drums, xylophones, and traditional string instruments.
During the Ebrié generations festival, the war dance symbolizes the transmission of martial skills and cultural heritage to younger generations. Elders teach the younger generations the movements, songs, and stories, perpetuating the tradition. Young dancers also learn values of respect, unity, and discipline through this practice.
The war dance reinforces the sense of identity and pride of the Ebrié people, reminding them of their rich history and resilience in the face of challenges. It embodies their determination to preserve their culture and heritage. However, some view it as folkloric, raising questions about the identity of traditional African peoples, the influence of Western cultures and religions, and the impact of colonial legacies on cultural repression.
Mahefa Dimbiniaina
Madagascar
Mahefa Dimbiniaina
Madagascar
Mahefa Dimbiniaina Randrianarivelo is a photographer renowned for crafting surrealistic portraits infused with personal experiences and intertwined with social and geopolitical narratives. Hailing from Madagascar, a country rich in diverse fauna, landscapes, and cultures, Mahefa's upbringing exposed him to poverty, injustice, and environmental challenges. This early awareness of societal disparities fuels his mission to address such issues through his art.
Approaching his work akin to a cinematographer, Mahefa meticulously plans his concepts, sketches ideas, and orchestrates settings, actors, and accessories. He then captures and edits his images to evoke the desired emotional tone. Inspired by popular culture and the surrealist pioneers like Salvador Dali, René Magritte, and Man Ray, Mahefa explores the boundary between reality and the fantastical. His goal is to create a space where viewers can challenge their perspectives and engage in thought-provoking experiences.
Mahefa's portraits often position subjects in believable yet otherworldly scenarios, merging social and geopolitical themes such as inequality, mental health, injustice, and opportunity disparities with his personal experiences. Through his art, he aims to make these subjects accessible in an engaging and original manner, sparking discussions that drive positive social and political change.
Originally, Mahefa embarked on photography as a journey to explore his own identity and sense of belonging. He seeks to provide a platform for others who share these feelings, fostering a sense of connection and acceptance. Ultimately, his goal is to harness the power of art to create a world where everyone can realize their full potential, catalyzing positive societal transformation and inspiring others to do the same.
“Vices & virtues”
"Vices & Virtues" is a photographic project that explores the complexities of human nature through a series of surrealist portraits. The project is inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church on the seven deadly sins - lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. These vices are often seen as undesirable qualities, but this project aims to challenge this perception and question what we consider to be good and bad.
The project features two main characters, portrayed in different situations that embody each of the seven deadly sins. There are two photographs for each sin, making a total of fourteen portraits. The portraits are surreal and dreamlike, with elements of fantasy and darkness. Each image is carefully crafted to convey the unique emotions and attitudes associated with each of the sins.
The project is not just a visual exploration of the seven deadly sins, but also a journey of self-discovery and introspection. The series encourages viewers to reflect on their own virtues and vices and to question their beliefs about what is right and wrong. It is a call to action to look inward and to embrace our full humanity, both good and bad. The concept of the seven deadly sins has a long history in Western culture, dating back to early Christianity. The concept was popularized by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri in his masterpiece "The Divine Comedy," where the sins are portrayed as the different circles of hell. Over the centuries, the seven deadly sins have been depicted in various forms of art, including paintings, literature, and film. "Vices & Virtues" continues this tradition, exploring the sins in a modern and unique way through photography.
The series also touches on the concept of tolerance, recognizing that each person is different and has their own unique set of virtues and vices. It is a reminder that we are all flawed and that it is okay to accept our imperfections. The project encourages viewers to embrace the complexity of the human experience and to find compassion for themselves and others.
“Vices & virtues”
"Vices & Virtues" is a photographic project that explores the complexities of human nature through a series of surrealist portraits. The project is inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church on the seven deadly sins - lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. These vices are often seen as undesirable qualities, but this project aims to challenge this perception and question what we consider to be good and bad.
The project features two main characters, portrayed in different situations that embody each of the seven deadly sins. There are two photographs for each sin, making a total of fourteen portraits. The portraits are surreal and dreamlike, with elements of fantasy and darkness. Each image is carefully crafted to convey the unique emotions and attitudes associated with each of the sins.
The project is not just a visual exploration of the seven deadly sins, but also a journey of self-discovery and introspection. The series encourages viewers to reflect on their own virtues and vices and to question their beliefs about what is right and wrong. It is a call to action to look inward and to embrace our full humanity, both good and bad. The concept of the seven deadly sins has a long history in Western culture, dating back to early Christianity. The concept was popularized by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri in his masterpiece "The Divine Comedy," where the sins are portrayed as the different circles of hell. Over the centuries, the seven deadly sins have been depicted in various forms of art, including paintings, literature, and film. "Vices & Virtues" continues this tradition, exploring the sins in a modern and unique way through photography.
The series also touches on the concept of tolerance, recognizing that each person is different and has their own unique set of virtues and vices. It is a reminder that we are all flawed and that it is okay to accept our imperfections. The project encourages viewers to embrace the complexity of the human experience and to find compassion for themselves and others.
Maingaila Muvundika
Zambia
Maingaila Muvundika
Zambia
Maingaila Muvundika (ZAMBIA )
Mainga's interest in photography began during his early childhood years seeing photographs that his mother had taken. This grew into a career initiated by capturing and creating photographs with whatever device he had at his disposal. In their second year of a non-creative degree, he ventured into fine art and portrait photography for which he is now known. Mainga has since had his work published in PhotoVogue, by i-D magazine, and the magazine cover for Nkwazi Magazine while having his work commissioned by Canva. This is in addition to having his work exhibited in a group photography exhibition titled Narratives Unpublished which was part of the Unpublished Africa Photography Week.
“A Road We All Take”
This collection delves into the exploitative and predatory nature of social institutions within our current Zambian society. The concept of labor and the identity of a laborer hold particular significance for me, especially in today's context. There is minimal protection for those in positions where they provide labor, as they are often expected to set aside their personal desires, needs, and joys, operating in a nearly mechanized state solely to fulfill the demands of an institution that shows no regard for their individuality. By drawing an analogy to marriage, I aim to explore this dynamic, which not only manifests in workplaces but also permeates intimate relationships among lovers, friends, and families, further exacerbating the issue.
“A Road We All Take”
This collection delves into the exploitative and predatory nature of social institutions within our current Zambian society. The concept of labor and the identity of a laborer hold particular significance for me, especially in today's context. There is minimal protection for those in positions where they provide labor, as they are often expected to set aside their personal desires, needs, and joys, operating in a nearly mechanized state solely to fulfill the demands of an institution that shows no regard for their individuality. By drawing an analogy to marriage, I aim to explore this dynamic, which not only manifests in workplaces but also permeates intimate relationships among lovers, friends, and families, further exacerbating the issue.
Marta Contreras Simó
Spain
Marta Contreras Simó
Spain
Under an avant-garde approach that fuses different disciplines, Marta Contreras Simó, Photographer and Artist based in Barcelona, has left an indelible mark that transcends the conventional limits of the world of photography and AI. A latent passion for art and fashion guided her to exploit creative frontiers through Artificial Intelligence, where she finds the tools to give life to images that inhabit her mind. The link between technology and imagination results in the fantasy world of the Director of "My Lovely Views", who explores the uniqueness of beauty in her works. From a multidisciplinary angle, the Photographer fuses traditional elements with a modern aesthetic in her work, creating a space in which past and present converge under her authentic ability to unveil the beauty of the unusual. The creative process of Marta is a journey of time and dedication, where the search for the perfect image becomes a meticulous task that involves a solid experimentation and deep connection with her artistic vision. A keen eye for details, composition and aesthetics accompanies all her images and, through her lens, fashion becomes an artistic manifestation of individuality. The incorporation of fleeting elements such as light and movement, transform the viewer's experience into something temporary and changing, capturing the ephemeral nature of reality that invites reflection on permanence, continuity and evolution with the passage of time. Weaving visual narratives that deepen the link between fashion, style and visual appeal.
Mekbib Tadesse
Ethiopia
Mekbib Tadesse
Ethiopia
Mekbib Tadesse was born in 1990, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He studied graphic design at the Graphic Design School, then turned to photography which he uses to share his vision of Ethiopia and Africa through personal and commercial projects.
Using the practice of the photographic studio, Mekbib Tadesse questions the interpersonal and institutional relationships of the contemporary societal fabric. In his portraiture practice, Tadesse uses photography as a storytelling medium.
Mekbib Tadesse was a resident of the Cité Internationale des Arts (2022). He exhibited at Alliance Ethio-Française (2021), Sharjah Art Museum (2020), New York Photoville (2015).
"Lost in connection"
Mekbib Tadesse's artistic project centers on the internet, which has become an echo chamber where exposure to information is limited by individual interests and spatial environment. The residency offers him a chance to explore diverse ideas and frameworks. Technology, particularly social media, meant to enhance connections, has paradoxically led to disconnection. He observes the accumulation of thousands of 'friends,' but questions how many can truly be known. The online community meant to unite people has driven them apart, reinforcing views in a feedback loop. Tolerance, compromise, and acceptance of differences are manipulated by algorithms, altering truth and reality based on online behavior. While the internet offers freedom of expression, the online discourse in Ethiopia differs from that abroad, making it an intriguing study. This project explores how technology, especially social media, distorts self and community understanding. It delves into the morphing identity caused by digital mediation, the formation of (dis)unified online communities, and their impact on offline interactions. Ethiopia's political context amplifies online divides, impacting various aspects of life. Bridging the information gap between rural and urban areas is complex, especially when adapting Western technology in developing countries. Freedom carries responsibility, as unchecked expression can spread hatred. Artistic expression is a powerful medium for Mekbib to explore and respond to these issues. The Cite Internationale des Arts Residency will provide an uninterrupted atmosphere for creative flow, facilitating the completion of this project.
"Lost in connection"
Mekbib Tadesse's artistic project centers on the internet, which has become an echo chamber where exposure to information is limited by individual interests and spatial environment. The residency offers him a chance to explore diverse ideas and frameworks. Technology, particularly social media, meant to enhance connections, has paradoxically led to disconnection. He observes the accumulation of thousands of 'friends,' but questions how many can truly be known. The online community meant to unite people has driven them apart, reinforcing views in a feedback loop. Tolerance, compromise, and acceptance of differences are manipulated by algorithms, altering truth and reality based on online behavior. While the internet offers freedom of expression, the online discourse in Ethiopia differs from that abroad, making it an intriguing study. This project explores how technology, especially social media, distorts self and community understanding. It delves into the morphing identity caused by digital mediation, the formation of (dis)unified online communities, and their impact on offline interactions. Ethiopia's political context amplifies online divides, impacting various aspects of life. Bridging the information gap between rural and urban areas is complex, especially when adapting Western technology in developing countries. Freedom carries responsibility, as unchecked expression can spread hatred. Artistic expression is a powerful medium for Mekbib to explore and respond to these issues. The Cite Internationale des Arts Residency will provide an uninterrupted atmosphere for creative flow, facilitating the completion of this project.
Miora Rajaonary
Madagascar
Miora Rajaonary
Madagascar
Miora Rajaonary is a documentary photographer born and raised Madagascar, currently based in Mauritius. Through her work, she strives to find new angles and stories on cultural and environmental issues in contemporary Africa. For the past three years, Miora has concentrated her efforts on documenting environmental stories focusing on food insecurity.
Miora is a National Geographic Explorer. She was named the winner of the Juror’s Choice of the 2019 edition of THE FENCE, the First Prize of the Addis Foto Fest’s Portfolio Review in December 2018, and one of the four winners of the inaugural Getty + Array Grant in July 2018.
“Kere”
“ How did we get to this point ?” Is the question that I kept asking myself when I first saw, years ago, news and reports about the Southern part of my home country, Madagascar, being under the process of desertification, and its population facing unprecedented levels of climate vulnerability and food insecurity. Since then, persistent drought and sandstorms have resulted in years of poor harvests. And, while food prices continue to rise, families have run out of what remained of their food stock, and many cannot afford what’s at the market. Originally, the word “Kere” is the word used locally for “hunger gap” -the period before the first harvest when grain from the previous harvest may run out. The people of Southern Madagascar, who have lived on subsistence agriculture for centuries, are used to coping with the hunger gap type of “Kere” on a yearly basis for a relatively short period of time. Because of climate change, rising temperatures, scarcity of rain and water, “Kere” is now becoming synonymous with famine. « Can we do something to face this ?” I then wondered because we cannot surrender. I started to look, and found the beginning of an answer, hope. I found people fighting to restore the soil and increase its fertility and provide a yield of crops adequate for the new climate conditions in the region. This project aims to document the challenges faced in the South of Madagascar, and the work of people and organizations to develop new agricultural solutions for the area. Most importantly, this project is about vulnerable yet strong people oscillating between despair and hope trying to find resilience in the most challenging battle they have ever faced.
“Kere”
“ How did we get to this point ?” Is the question that I kept asking myself when I first saw, years ago, news and reports about the Southern part of my home country, Madagascar, being under the process of desertification, and its population facing unprecedented levels of climate vulnerability and food insecurity. Since then, persistent drought and sandstorms have resulted in years of poor harvests. And, while food prices continue to rise, families have run out of what remained of their food stock, and many cannot afford what’s at the market. Originally, the word “Kere” is the word used locally for “hunger gap” -the period before the first harvest when grain from the previous harvest may run out. The people of Southern Madagascar, who have lived on subsistence agriculture for centuries, are used to coping with the hunger gap type of “Kere” on a yearly basis for a relatively short period of time. Because of climate change, rising temperatures, scarcity of rain and water, “Kere” is now becoming synonymous with famine. « Can we do something to face this ?” I then wondered because we cannot surrender. I started to look, and found the beginning of an answer, hope. I found people fighting to restore the soil and increase its fertility and provide a yield of crops adequate for the new climate conditions in the region. This project aims to document the challenges faced in the South of Madagascar, and the work of people and organizations to develop new agricultural solutions for the area. Most importantly, this project is about vulnerable yet strong people oscillating between despair and hope trying to find resilience in the most challenging battle they have ever faced.
Mohammad Shahnewaz
Bangladesh
Mohammad Shahnewaz
Bangladesh
Mohammad Shahnewaz Khan was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 1984. He has a diploma in photography and a degree in professional photography, subsequently undertaking many masterclasses and mentoring programs in the fields of photojournalism and documentary photography. In 2015, he received a scholarship from Syracus University, USA. Beyond this, he has studied a diverse range of subjects including philosophy, history, literature, poetry, song, dance, and acting in a process of lifelong learning. Shahnewaz is a Documentary Photographer, curator, educator, and social activist. In 2016, he founded the Voice of Humanity and Hope Photography Institute (VOHH), subsequently initiating the VOHH Foundation and the VOHH Foto Fest. He took photography as his profession since 2004 and as a freelance photojournalist he has worked for many of the leading media outlets globally including Al-Jazeera, CNN, IFC, Sputnik, Guardian, Público, Sunday-Times, DrikNEWS, AlMayadeenTV, Washington Post; NGOs such as Amnesty International and UNICEF; and magazines such as National Geographic and Time. He won 500 international awards, like; UNICEF-POY, Ian-Parry-Grant, Alexia-Grant, IPA, Andrei-Stenin-Press-Award, Asian-Press-Award, Siena, BIFA, TIFA, Photoshare, AlMayadeenTV, EPOTY, Felix-schoeller, Lucie-Scholarship, IPOTY, SWPA. His projects have been published 500 International journals in print media and TV shows worldwide, Including; Washington-Post, CNN, Sunday Times, Amnesty, UNICEF, Guardian, Al-Jazeera, FotoEvidence, BJP, L'Oeil-de-la, TIME, Público, RT, AlMayadeenTV, UN, SPUTNIK, PHmuseum, Lensculture, Lucie-Foundation. His photographs have been featured in exhibitions in 100 countries worldwide in many prestigious institutions and events: Somerset-House, House-of-Lords, Royal-Geographical-Society, UN-HQ, Photo-London, AddisFotoFest, BursaPhotoFest, PHOTOVISA, PARIS-PHOTO, ICP, Yixian-Photo-Fest, CortonaOnTheMove. His long-term documentary projects have been widely used for teaching and research in universities and institutions in Europe and USA, as well as around the world, like Johns-Hopkins-University, East-Carolina-University, University of Washington, Duke-University, World Health Organization- WHO, London-School-of-Economics and Political-Science, EBS. He has photographed 15 countries and was invited to take a Portfolio Review at AddisFotoFest and BursaPhotoFest. He lives and works in Chittagong.
“Look via the Windows of my Mind”
In this self-portrait project, I'm trying to overcome my limitations through metaphorical approaches. I felt myself an essential part of this story – I couldn't remain invisible. This is a reality that includes my own reality mixed within it. In these images, I'm the central character, but I’m not the subject. The environment and situation in which I appear is the main element of the message of these pictures. E.g. climate change, my philosophy, and social issues. When the waters of the Teesta River were blocked by India, I found myself inside a Char. My dead body woke up as if I was back on earth again. I was being buried again and again. Every year I wake up and float again. When India releases water, the Teesta River and its surroundings are swept away by the floodwaters and when India retains water, the river Teesta dries up and becomes almost a dead river, like the desert. Here I’ve highlighted the untold brutal reality of the people of North Bengal, Bangladesh. By this ongoing self-portraiture and self-observation project since 2020; I've tried to cover social, psychological, humanitarian, and human-race issues with my own thoughts, about this world and mankind. This world is full of violence-envy-hatred-arrogance-quarrel-fights-wars, and racism-discrimination. Is it important to get money-dignity-name-fame by giving up ethics and humanity? Is it significant to be modern/ gentleman? I dream of being a shepherd-farmer, getting up in the early morning to cultivate the land, taking cows-goats to the field. If your heart isn't clear like water, isn't it all in vain? Life means going back to the Soil, doesn't it? I wanted to smell the soil/earth. I tried to discover new ways to know myself and in addition to this, I have tried to draw attention to the neglected or avoided crises-problems of our world and mankind in a new way.
“Look via the Windows of my Mind”
In this self-portrait project, I'm trying to overcome my limitations through metaphorical approaches. I felt myself an essential part of this story – I couldn't remain invisible. This is a reality that includes my own reality mixed within it. In these images, I'm the central character, but I’m not the subject. The environment and situation in which I appear is the main element of the message of these pictures. E.g. climate change, my philosophy, and social issues. When the waters of the Teesta River were blocked by India, I found myself inside a Char. My dead body woke up as if I was back on earth again. I was being buried again and again. Every year I wake up and float again. When India releases water, the Teesta River and its surroundings are swept away by the floodwaters and when India retains water, the river Teesta dries up and becomes almost a dead river, like the desert. Here I’ve highlighted the untold brutal reality of the people of North Bengal, Bangladesh. By this ongoing self-portraiture and self-observation project since 2020; I've tried to cover social, psychological, humanitarian, and human-race issues with my own thoughts, about this world and mankind. This world is full of violence-envy-hatred-arrogance-quarrel-fights-wars, and racism-discrimination. Is it important to get money-dignity-name-fame by giving up ethics and humanity? Is it significant to be modern/ gentleman? I dream of being a shepherd-farmer, getting up in the early morning to cultivate the land, taking cows-goats to the field. If your heart isn't clear like water, isn't it all in vain? Life means going back to the Soil, doesn't it? I wanted to smell the soil/earth. I tried to discover new ways to know myself and in addition to this, I have tried to draw attention to the neglected or avoided crises-problems of our world and mankind in a new way.
Nathalie Guironnet
France
Nathalie Guironnet
France
Nathalie Guironnet began photography by exploring the relationship between the built environment and the city, by being interested in the place of man in the urban context. Her work tends towards a graphic and minimalist aesthetic. She then explored several photographic registers before developing a documentary curiosity that is closer to her sensitivity. She uses photography to transmit as much as possible the immaterial memory and cultural heritage of communities.rnAfter having followed the Lebou community in Senegal, she has focused in recent years on cultural, social, economic (Senegal, Ivory Coast) and environmental (Mali) issues. She has followed and accompanied radio journalists in Dakar. She is particularly interested in the religious field (Senegal, Ethiopia, Egypt) and in social and gender issues.rnArtist, author, member of the Agit'Art Laboratory and Hans Lucas press agency, she has participated in numerous exhibitions in several countries and published in the German, French and Congolese press (DRC).
“Layenne community”
“Layenne community” It was in Senegal, on the Cape Verde peninsula and within the Lebou society that Seydina Limamou Lahi declared himself to be the messenger of God (the Mahdi) in 1883 and founded the brotherhood. Since then, every year, a pilgrimage takes place in Dakar and gathers thousands of pilgrims in the name of their faith to pray for two days and remember what is commonly called "The Call" of this great figure of Islam in Senegal. This is a time for meditation, prayer and solidarity. Among the founding principles, religious songs are characteristic of the community. Moreover, among the Layennes, women occupy a place as important as that of men and complete their faith journey standing in front of them. They are also opposed to the caste principle, and once a year they organise a collective wedding ceremony for hundreds of couples. Apart from economic reasons, it is above all an opportunity to circumvent the prohibition of union dictated by certain traditional castes. While a certain inter-religious mistrust has been emerging in recent years in the Western world, a better understanding of Islam would undoubtedly make it possible to live better with its followers, whose growing numbers around the world show that we will have to reasonably reconcile our Christian aspirations with their religious precepts. The example of the Layenne community which has experienced a real revival since the 1990s, allows us to observe its way of reinventing itself and adapting to traditional requirements while considering the evolution of society. It thus participates in the "development of a new Senegalese Islam".
“Layenne community”
“Layenne community” It was in Senegal, on the Cape Verde peninsula and within the Lebou society that Seydina Limamou Lahi declared himself to be the messenger of God (the Mahdi) in 1883 and founded the brotherhood. Since then, every year, a pilgrimage takes place in Dakar and gathers thousands of pilgrims in the name of their faith to pray for two days and remember what is commonly called "The Call" of this great figure of Islam in Senegal. This is a time for meditation, prayer and solidarity. Among the founding principles, religious songs are characteristic of the community. Moreover, among the Layennes, women occupy a place as important as that of men and complete their faith journey standing in front of them. They are also opposed to the caste principle, and once a year they organise a collective wedding ceremony for hundreds of couples. Apart from economic reasons, it is above all an opportunity to circumvent the prohibition of union dictated by certain traditional castes. While a certain inter-religious mistrust has been emerging in recent years in the Western world, a better understanding of Islam would undoubtedly make it possible to live better with its followers, whose growing numbers around the world show that we will have to reasonably reconcile our Christian aspirations with their religious precepts. The example of the Layenne community which has experienced a real revival since the 1990s, allows us to observe its way of reinventing itself and adapting to traditional requirements while considering the evolution of society. It thus participates in the "development of a new Senegalese Islam".
Natnael Ashebir Mekonnen
Ethiopia
Natnael Ashebir Mekonnen
Ethiopia
Natnael Ashebir (b. 1995) is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He received a BFA from Alle School of Fine Art and Design in 2021, a Diploma from Entoto Polytechnic College in 2016, and from Abyssinia Fine Art School in 2013. Natnael is a contemporary experimental artist who draws from his immersive experience of time and space. His experimentation widely ranges from painting as well as digital drawing and photography. The subject matter introduces a wide range of topics and issues to the conceptual frame, such as architecture and cultural heritage, the visual narration of cultural and historical changes, as well as his own experience, plays a lead role in the work. Natnael was a second-prize winner of the Emerging Painting Invitational Prize (EPI2022) organized by the African Art Galleries Association (AAGA).
“Where We Are”
Where We Are My current body of work is related to exploring identity and history. The visual has photography, archive images, text, and digital drawings to create the visual narration. The visuals contain digital collages created using various images that thought cultural heritage, memory, our existence, and so on become a gate looking, questioning, discovering, and rediscovering who I am to contemplate the layers of identity and history. Memory is the means to enable me to link up with the past that portrays the journeys of Mankind, and archival images are a means to bind us to one another in connecting us to the past, keeping us intact to the present. I also consider my works as a form of unorthodox archives that appeal to a kind of understanding of myself. I envision all these attempts as a way of dealing with and engaging the need to question where we are as an individual, a community, a society, a country, a continent, and as part of humanity in general.
“Where We Are”
Where We Are My current body of work is related to exploring identity and history. The visual has photography, archive images, text, and digital drawings to create the visual narration. The visuals contain digital collages created using various images that thought cultural heritage, memory, our existence, and so on become a gate looking, questioning, discovering, and rediscovering who I am to contemplate the layers of identity and history. Memory is the means to enable me to link up with the past that portrays the journeys of Mankind, and archival images are a means to bind us to one another in connecting us to the past, keeping us intact to the present. I also consider my works as a form of unorthodox archives that appeal to a kind of understanding of myself. I envision all these attempts as a way of dealing with and engaging the need to question where we are as an individual, a community, a society, a country, a continent, and as part of humanity in general.
Neec Nonso
Nigeria
Neec Nonso
Nigeria
Neec Nonso is a visual artist working across photography, performance, and augmented reality. His practice spans from the documentary to the deliberately posed, capturing textures of everyday life and rites of passage as well as their nuances in communities across Nigeria. undriven by a goal to catalyze critical conversations, Neec aims to evoke emotions while inviting audiences to excavate memories and experiences as they encounter my work.
He is a self-taught photographer who has benefited immensely from intensive visual storytelling training facilitated by Nlele institute of Photography, Nigeria. Neec established Aguleri stories in October 2018 with the goal of sharing first-hand accounts of the Igbo community of Aguleri in south-eastern Nigeria, which has a history of boundary disputes with its neighbors. In 2019, he received a one-year residency with the African artist’s Foundation in Lagos after winning the best portfolio prize at the Lagos photo festival. He emerged as runner-up in the 10th edition of the Vantage Point Sharjah Photography Award, given by the Sharjah art foundation, in 2022. The same year, he was a finalist for the ArtX prize. Neec is a member of 1884 Photo, a collective of visual artists who experience and document African stories and respond to global concerns from an African perspective, as well as the Africa photojournalism database [apjd], a network of photojournalists from Africa.
“What Was Dead Was Never Dead [2]”
“What Was Dead Was Never Dead [2]” What Was Dead Was Never Dead is an ongoing project that examines the universal belief in reincarnation and posthumous existence of dead relatives. in Nigeria, people believe that human effort and achievement do not end with death on the earthly plane. This cosmological belief is articulated in a lot of different origin stories, many of which are built around individuals and archetypes in ghost land and the world is an endless loop of the living and dead, coming and going. for instance, among the Yoruba people, the universe is conceived as a three-storied structure: heaven world above, earth world, and the under-earth world below it. the heaven world above is the home of the father god, the earth world is the home of humankind [including animal-kind, trees etc.], and the under-earth world is the abode of the ancestors. When a child is born, the child is never named, until the gods are consulted, to reveal who amongst the ancestors have come to live again on earth world. Hence, those who are dead, are never dead. In this body of work, I try to capture the living-dead, by examining intimate family stories - to exhume memories, popular myths, and taboos surrounding death, reincarnation, and the universal belief in the afterlife.
“What Was Dead Was Never Dead [2]”
“What Was Dead Was Never Dead [2]” What Was Dead Was Never Dead is an ongoing project that examines the universal belief in reincarnation and posthumous existence of dead relatives. in Nigeria, people believe that human effort and achievement do not end with death on the earthly plane. This cosmological belief is articulated in a lot of different origin stories, many of which are built around individuals and archetypes in ghost land and the world is an endless loop of the living and dead, coming and going. for instance, among the Yoruba people, the universe is conceived as a three-storied structure: heaven world above, earth world, and the under-earth world below it. the heaven world above is the home of the father god, the earth world is the home of humankind [including animal-kind, trees etc.], and the under-earth world is the abode of the ancestors. When a child is born, the child is never named, until the gods are consulted, to reveal who amongst the ancestors have come to live again on earth world. Hence, those who are dead, are never dead. In this body of work, I try to capture the living-dead, by examining intimate family stories - to exhume memories, popular myths, and taboos surrounding death, reincarnation, and the universal belief in the afterlife.
Okeowo Emmanuel
Nigeria
Okeowo Emmanuel
Nigeria
Born in 1986 in Lagos, Nigeria, Olalekan Emmanuel Okeowo is an emerging documentary and fine art photographer based in Lagos. He excels at crafting conceptual pieces rooted in personal life experiences and narratives within his environment. Okeowo is a member of 1884 Photo, a collective of visual artists, and he has honed his storytelling skills under the mentorship of Gary Knight, co-founder of the VII Photo Agency, through the Canon Storytelling workshop. Additionally, he is an alumnus of The Nlele Institute.
“Identity crisis”
Who am I, and what is my relationship with my ecosystem? As humans, we are inherently social creatures, embarking on an ongoing journey to find balance and meaning within the space we commonly refer to as our ecosystem. This environment provides the canvas upon which we foster and cultivate interactions, whether as a collective or as individuals. These interactions span a spectrum, encompassing socio-political, cultural, and economic dimensions. Furthermore, these exchanges can manifest on micro or macro scales, with individuals or groups forging connections at the familial/local level or on a global stage. Understanding human nature reveals that, driven by social inclinations and political dynamics, we are constantly compelled to seek recognition and, above all, ensure our survival. An individual's identity often takes shape early in life, influenced by factors such as genetics, gender, geography, and more. Given the vastness of the identity concept, this project aims to explore the notion of 'self-perceived identity' in contrast to 'imposed identity.' In most cultural contexts, 'imposed identity' is an inescapable reality dictated by societal norms—unwritten codes of conduct considered acceptable within a given group or society. The consequences of challenging or rejecting such identities can be profound, often leaving individuals with a sense of marginalization and overwhelming rejection.
“Identity crisis”
Who am I, and what is my relationship with my ecosystem? As humans, we are inherently social creatures, embarking on an ongoing journey to find balance and meaning within the space we commonly refer to as our ecosystem. This environment provides the canvas upon which we foster and cultivate interactions, whether as a collective or as individuals. These interactions span a spectrum, encompassing socio-political, cultural, and economic dimensions. Furthermore, these exchanges can manifest on micro or macro scales, with individuals or groups forging connections at the familial/local level or on a global stage. Understanding human nature reveals that, driven by social inclinations and political dynamics, we are constantly compelled to seek recognition and, above all, ensure our survival. An individual's identity often takes shape early in life, influenced by factors such as genetics, gender, geography, and more. Given the vastness of the identity concept, this project aims to explore the notion of 'self-perceived identity' in contrast to 'imposed identity.' In most cultural contexts, 'imposed identity' is an inescapable reality dictated by societal norms—unwritten codes of conduct considered acceptable within a given group or society. The consequences of challenging or rejecting such identities can be profound, often leaving individuals with a sense of marginalization and overwhelming rejection.
Nuits Balnéaires
Côte d'Ivoire
Nuits Balnéaires
Côte d'Ivoire
Born and raised in Abidjan in a large Akan Agni-bona and Malinké family, Nuits Balnéaires is an Ivorian multidisciplinary visual artist, art director, and poet based in Grand-Bassam. He has always been fascinated by the energy emanating from the waters of the Gulf of Guinea. The history of the civilizations that populate this coastline serves as a compass to understand and capture its energy. Over the years, his works on the cultures and social structure of the N'zima people of Grand-Bassam have opened him to a new perspective of the collective imagination of Côte d'Ivoire. His latest series “The Power of Alliances' ' which earned him a full spread in The Guardian is the outcome of a one-year visual journalism fellowship with the World Press Photo Foundation and Chocolonely Foundation. The proximity that Grand Bassam offers to the communities of artisans has provided him with a perfect setting to multiply experiments and expand his rhizomatic practice.
“Redemption“
From the time he moved to Grand-Bassam, he took an interest in the many environmental challenges that exist there. Discussions on the issue with the inhabitants of the village as well as with specialized NGOs opened his eyes to the complexity and depth of the problem. Between the waste that arrives from the Atlantic Ocean and that dumped by the population for lack of alternatives, the surrounding nature bears the after-effects of an exacerbated human impact. In the “Redemption” series, objects found on beaches are the raw material. Nuits Balnéaires collects objects along the coast, sculpts forms, and dresses them up, as if to show solidarity with a distressed nature.
“Redemption“
From the time he moved to Grand-Bassam, he took an interest in the many environmental challenges that exist there. Discussions on the issue with the inhabitants of the village as well as with specialized NGOs opened his eyes to the complexity and depth of the problem. Between the waste that arrives from the Atlantic Ocean and that dumped by the population for lack of alternatives, the surrounding nature bears the after-effects of an exacerbated human impact. In the “Redemption” series, objects found on beaches are the raw material. Nuits Balnéaires collects objects along the coast, sculpts forms, and dresses them up, as if to show solidarity with a distressed nature.
Ouédraogo Mohamed
Burkina Faso
Ouédraogo Mohamed
Burkina Faso
Ouédraogo Mohamed, a young photographer from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, completed a 2-year photography training program with "Améthyste Internationale Paris" and worked for 4 years as a photojournalist for the Burkinabé press. As a freelance photographer, he specializes in cultural photography, highlighting dance, theater, and other cultural aspects. His long-term photojournalism work primarily focuses on social issues in Burkina Faso and Africa.
In collaboration with dance professionals, he captures the beauty and movements of dancers on stage while promoting African cultural diversity through his images. In his photo reports, he highlights the social conditions of African youth.
Ouédraogo Mohamed thus contributes to raising awareness of and documenting culture and social challenges in Africa through his photographic art.
“Anomalies”
In his series "The Granite Quarry," Mohamed Ouedraogo explores a place that doesn't align with our modern world's conception: a stone quarry in the western outskirts of Ouagadougou, where men, women, and children engage in heavy and perilous labor to earn only 1,000 CFA francs per day, which is approximately 1.60 CHF. "Here, work and time do not hold the same value as elsewhere," states the photographer. Workers are constantly at risk of injuries and breathe air filled with the smoke of burning tires and crushed granite dust. Some of them wear clothing bearing logos and brands from the contemporary capitalist economy. The contrast is painfully ironic but perfectly symbolizes the stark divide between the rich and the poor in a globalized society.
“Anomalies”
In his series "The Granite Quarry," Mohamed Ouedraogo explores a place that doesn't align with our modern world's conception: a stone quarry in the western outskirts of Ouagadougou, where men, women, and children engage in heavy and perilous labor to earn only 1,000 CFA francs per day, which is approximately 1.60 CHF. "Here, work and time do not hold the same value as elsewhere," states the photographer. Workers are constantly at risk of injuries and breathe air filled with the smoke of burning tires and crushed granite dust. Some of them wear clothing bearing logos and brands from the contemporary capitalist economy. The contrast is painfully ironic but perfectly symbolizes the stark divide between the rich and the poor in a globalized society.
Primo Mauridi
DRC
Primo Mauridi
DRC
Primo Mauridi began his professional journey in 2013 as an Assistant Artistic Director at the Hortensia Organization. He was selected to participate in the Africanfurism class led by filmmaker Petna NDALIKO, and he directed the film "Mayi Yangu," which was presented at the International Congo Film Festival. In 2022, he took part in the 14th edition of the Congo in Harlem Festival in New York and the Lubumbashi Biennale. Concurrently, Primo became the official photographer for cultural events such as the "Hadisi Urban Festival'' and "Festikivu."
With "Résilience," he offers a series of portraits and landscapes that depict a different image of Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo – one of courage, dignity, and the incredible creativity of a people struggling to survive. In 2021, Yole!Africa appointed him as the head of the Photos and Videos department, and he received a scholarship from the Canon VII Academy. In 2022, with "Surface," Primo Mauridi invoked the body. Here, the skin is used as raw material to paint photos in resistance to the horror of wounded bodies. His creation "MAWE," selected among the works of the MAYINDULE residency, explores the transformation and ancestral ceremonies surrounding volcanoes. Primo reinterprets these rituals and gives them a place in the current visual landscape. "MAWE," a project centered around the Mawe volcano, addresses ecology, ancestral rites, and incorporates video, digital, and photography. Part of this project was exhibited at the 17th edition of the Rencontres d'Ishango (June 2022). In the same year, Primo participated in the International Meetings of Digital and Visual Arts in Abidjan (RIANA 2022). In 2023, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) selected him to participate in the 9th Francophone Games to be held in Kinshasa (July).
“Mawe”
Based on the ancient ritual surrounding the Nyiragongo volcano, Mawe 2022 explores new forms of memory and integration of indigenous knowledge and mythology in an urban context. At the heart of the residency process is the sense of Ejo-Lobi temporality, in which the future of the past and the past of the future converge. This multidimensional understanding of time offers a paradigm that aligns with local and indigenous mythologies and practices. It is a modality that helps preserve the intergenerational continuity of indigenous cultures and prepares the next generation for the challenges they are already facing in a globalized world. Through a wake-up ritual, Nyabhingi, the goddess of abundance, emerges from Liangombe and breathes out the Mazuku. She must heal Goma from destruction and restore ecological balance. With her warriors, they witness the devastation caused by industrial arrogance that has desecrated the land, invoking the wrath of Lingombe, the spirit of discipline that corrects all transgressions. Lingombe spews fire and Mahindule (lava) to warn the people of their transgressions.
“Mawe”
Based on the ancient ritual surrounding the Nyiragongo volcano, Mawe 2022 explores new forms of memory and integration of indigenous knowledge and mythology in an urban context. At the heart of the residency process is the sense of Ejo-Lobi temporality, in which the future of the past and the past of the future converge. This multidimensional understanding of time offers a paradigm that aligns with local and indigenous mythologies and practices. It is a modality that helps preserve the intergenerational continuity of indigenous cultures and prepares the next generation for the challenges they are already facing in a globalized world. Through a wake-up ritual, Nyabhingi, the goddess of abundance, emerges from Liangombe and breathes out the Mazuku. She must heal Goma from destruction and restore ecological balance. With her warriors, they witness the devastation caused by industrial arrogance that has desecrated the land, invoking the wrath of Lingombe, the spirit of discipline that corrects all transgressions. Lingombe spews fire and Mahindule (lava) to warn the people of their transgressions.
Puleng Mongale
South Africa
Puleng Mongale
South Africa
A South African visual artist, Puleng Mongale (b. 1991) combines photography and digital.
collage as her primary mediums. Mongale's artistic expression is a collection of her memories, musings, and observations of the women in her life, real and imagined, living, and departed.
Additionally, she draws inspiration from the movements of the black working-class women she encounters daily as she navigates the city. Mongale’s digital collage work is an exploration of identity, self-creation, and spirituality through an internal dialogue that centers upon remembering, the preservation of ancestral connections, and black womanhood.
“Mongale has developed a unique, referential style of digital collage that combines the familiar and the surreal, the domestic and the universal. Each work is simultaneously a form of innovative self-portraiture, with Mongale artfully inhabiting unexpected characters and
situations, from the serene to the provocative. Through this process of self-imagining, the artist both reflects and reconstructs a relationship with her own heritage, particularly absorbing the lineages of the women who surround her.”
– Refresh Magazine, 2021
For Mongale, a young black woman in South Africa born into a world where she feels unseen
and unheard, creating art is a political and spiritual exercise for her. She uses it to practice her resistance, agency, and faith, and generally, as a way of taking her power back. It’s how she defines herself in a world that maintains she shouldn’t exist.
“The Spirit Series”
The Spirit Series was propelled by the Covid 19 pandemic and is an invitation into other worlds and periods of time, leaning into something far larger than myself. The series examines mental health, memory, and spirituality by thinking through form and permeability as a therapeutic exercise in surrender. I was attempting to make way for another voice when I realized something else. I came to understand that I was not the first person in my lineage, even in the world, to experience adversity. During the pandemic, I turned to creativity as a way of finding solace from my hopelessness and overwhelming exhaustion. I started seeking refuge in creativity, and through the depths of darkness that nearly consumed me, I felt the body of work offered a beacon of light and hope. By leaning on the intangible and an unshakeable awareness, creating art became a matter of survival; a showing up. The work, in turn, evolved into a dialogue with my consciousness, continuously reassuring me that it was okay to ponder the purpose of pain and that I was not alone.
“The Spirit Series”
The Spirit Series was propelled by the Covid 19 pandemic and is an invitation into other worlds and periods of time, leaning into something far larger than myself. The series examines mental health, memory, and spirituality by thinking through form and permeability as a therapeutic exercise in surrender. I was attempting to make way for another voice when I realized something else. I came to understand that I was not the first person in my lineage, even in the world, to experience adversity. During the pandemic, I turned to creativity as a way of finding solace from my hopelessness and overwhelming exhaustion. I started seeking refuge in creativity, and through the depths of darkness that nearly consumed me, I felt the body of work offered a beacon of light and hope. By leaning on the intangible and an unshakeable awareness, creating art became a matter of survival; a showing up. The work, in turn, evolved into a dialogue with my consciousness, continuously reassuring me that it was okay to ponder the purpose of pain and that I was not alone.
Rijasolo
Madagascar
Rijasolo
Madagascar
Rijasolo is a photojournalist and photographer born in France, currently based in Antananarivo, Madagascar country of his roots. Stemming from a trip to Madagascar in 2004, Rijasolo began his project MIVERINA, which strove to show how difficult it was to regain an intimate relationship with Madagascar. This work was exhibited around the world including at the LagosPhoto Festival, Angkor Photo Festival, and Addis Foto Fest. In 2005, he was selected for the Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie biennial in Bamako, Mali, which drove him to become a full-time photographer. Rijasolo has collaborated with newspapers and magazines including Libération, Le Monde, Paris Match, and Jeune Afrique. He was awarded 1st prize in Leica’s LFI 35mm Wide Angle Competition in 2010.
In 2011, Rijasolo decided to move to Madagascar where he focused on reportage and corporate projects. Since 2012, he has been a photographer for AFP. In 2013, he received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The same year, he published his first photobook Madagascar, nocturnes about nightlife in Madagascar. In 2019, he was a finalist at the Contemporary African Photography Prize, and the same year, he won the Malagasy Contemporary Art Prize, PARITANA. Rijasolo is a member of the African Photojournalism Database, a directory of emerging and professional African visual journalists established by the World Press Photo Foundation and Everyday Africa.
“Malagasy”
MALAGASY collects photographs of Madagascar, my country of origin where I currently live. Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean, the fifth largest island in the world, is a paradox for economists and sociologists. The country is rich in every way, under and on its soil. Its land is fertile, its biodiversity is unique in the world and its maritime space is immense. Apart from a few political crises that have occurred since France returned to its independence in 1960, Madagascar has never experienced a civil war or an uncontrollable epidemic that could have severely destabilized the country. And yet Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. The vast majority of Malagasy people live on less than one euro per day. It is difficult to judge the causes of this situation. Foreign multinationals? The incompetence of the leaders? Corruption? Religious invasion? Since 2004, I have been photographing the Malagasy people. Who are they? What does it mean to be Malagasy in the 21st century? How do the Malagasy currently fit into this world? Indus, the Malagasy, is both beautiful and sad. Resilient and reliable. Courageous and timorous. MALAGASY proposes a social and intimate portrait of the people of Madagascar. I chose these photographs, not because they could correspond to the idea that one also hopes for a country like this one: the end of the world, the exoticism, the sun, the joy of living of the inhabitants in spite of scandalous poverty; but because they can translate a state of mind, my state of mind at this moment when I begin to understand what means to be Malagasy. Madagascar seems to me fascinating but incomprehensible. As the writer Johary Ravaloson said, “In Madagascar, reality often exceeds fiction.
“Malagasy”
MALAGASY collects photographs of Madagascar, my country of origin where I currently live. Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean, the fifth largest island in the world, is a paradox for economists and sociologists. The country is rich in every way, under and on its soil. Its land is fertile, its biodiversity is unique in the world and its maritime space is immense. Apart from a few political crises that have occurred since France returned to its independence in 1960, Madagascar has never experienced a civil war or an uncontrollable epidemic that could have severely destabilized the country. And yet Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. The vast majority of Malagasy people live on less than one euro per day. It is difficult to judge the causes of this situation. Foreign multinationals? The incompetence of the leaders? Corruption? Religious invasion? Since 2004, I have been photographing the Malagasy people. Who are they? What does it mean to be Malagasy in the 21st century? How do the Malagasy currently fit into this world? Indus, the Malagasy, is both beautiful and sad. Resilient and reliable. Courageous and timorous. MALAGASY proposes a social and intimate portrait of the people of Madagascar. I chose these photographs, not because they could correspond to the idea that one also hopes for a country like this one: the end of the world, the exoticism, the sun, the joy of living of the inhabitants in spite of scandalous poverty; but because they can translate a state of mind, my state of mind at this moment when I begin to understand what means to be Malagasy. Madagascar seems to me fascinating but incomprehensible. As the writer Johary Ravaloson said, “In Madagascar, reality often exceeds fiction.
Sumayah Fallatah
Saudi Arabia
Sumayah Fallatah
Saudi Arabia
Sumayah Fallatah is a third-generation Saudi Arabian-Nigerian artist. Her passion for visual art began at the age of 15 when she started learning and experimenting with photography. This sparked her interest in graphic design and multimedia, leading her to pursue a degree at the University of Sharjah. Through her lens, Sumayah reflects on her past experiences and memories, exploring themes such as race, beauty, and representation in the Arab world. She is also on a journey to reconnect with her cultural identity, which she grew up distant from.
“Say Mon Dawo II (Till We Return II)”
Say Mon Dawo II, is a multi-mediated series of self-portraits constructed in dialogue with collected fabric, expressing a moment in which the artist revisits and reconstructs her Saudi Arabian Nigerian identity. The series reconstructs a long history of Hausa migration to Saudi Arabia due to colonial impact and the desire to protect their Islamic identity. The artist reconfigures musical and linguistic elements as well as fabrics and materials, and traces of past records into a layered personal collage that embodies characters from various phases of the migratory assimilation. This work was created during the Intermix Residency, which was supported and facilitated by Ministry of Culture, Visual Art Commission, Fashion Commission and Athr Gallery.
“Say Mon Dawo II (Till We Return II)”
Say Mon Dawo II, is a multi-mediated series of self-portraits constructed in dialogue with collected fabric, expressing a moment in which the artist revisits and reconstructs her Saudi Arabian Nigerian identity. The series reconstructs a long history of Hausa migration to Saudi Arabia due to colonial impact and the desire to protect their Islamic identity. The artist reconfigures musical and linguistic elements as well as fabrics and materials, and traces of past records into a layered personal collage that embodies characters from various phases of the migratory assimilation. This work was created during the Intermix Residency, which was supported and facilitated by Ministry of Culture, Visual Art Commission, Fashion Commission and Athr Gallery.
Taiye Godbody
Ethiopia
Taiye Godbody
Ethiopia
Taiye’s vision as an artist and person comes from his ability to understand things from multiple angles simultaneously. He has lived in various locales which has given him a cosmopolitan sensibility. After he graduated from the International School of Kenya he moved to New York City to pursue art. His years in Ghana and Ethiopia give him critical insight into global geopolitics and the history of race and representation that belie a vision far beyond his years. His practice has focused on conceptual themes around race and power. He is developing a visual language for empowering black figurations to speak back to viewers and challenge assumptions of sexuality and objectification. He has an excellent eye as an artist and sharp critical insight in both aesthetic and intellectual realms. His thoughtfulness and sensitivity are those of someone far more advanced in years. Taiye’s art has been a way for him to experience the world as he has traveled and lived in various locales. For him, it is a medium to engage with other people. He has already exhibited his work in a solo show in Brooklyn and several other venues. And he continues to develop concepts and themes for visual projects. He is a future leader who is creative, curious, and entrepreneurial.
“Hairchitecture is an imaginarium”
Hairchitecture is an imaginarium: a series of images exploring the beauty and possibilities of natural hair. The photo series explores hair as a medium of spiritual expression and ancestral connection, as well as a tool to individual expression. In collaboration with hair artist Stacy Gray, Godbody taps into an endless variation of textures and improvised hair structures with the elegant simplicity of the silhouette. Each silhouette becomes a vector of mystery and mythic references. Through these examinations, Godbody documents the current moment with novel postures evoking old tales. Embedding each image with a touch of surrealism, he creates a universe of fantastical creatures, gods, goddesses, spirits, and souls. We see that the embrace of new organic structures and natural styles taking place among young diasporans is a shift nothing short of seismic. Hairchitecture serves as a reminder that we are currently experiencing a new moment in the centuries-long effort to subvert antiquated notions of power, beauty, and respect.
“Hairchitecture is an imaginarium”
Hairchitecture is an imaginarium: a series of images exploring the beauty and possibilities of natural hair. The photo series explores hair as a medium of spiritual expression and ancestral connection, as well as a tool to individual expression. In collaboration with hair artist Stacy Gray, Godbody taps into an endless variation of textures and improvised hair structures with the elegant simplicity of the silhouette. Each silhouette becomes a vector of mystery and mythic references. Through these examinations, Godbody documents the current moment with novel postures evoking old tales. Embedding each image with a touch of surrealism, he creates a universe of fantastical creatures, gods, goddesses, spirits, and souls. We see that the embrace of new organic structures and natural styles taking place among young diasporans is a shift nothing short of seismic. Hairchitecture serves as a reminder that we are currently experiencing a new moment in the centuries-long effort to subvert antiquated notions of power, beauty, and respect.
Tshepiso Mabula
South Africa
Tshepiso Mabula
South Africa
Tshepiso Mabula is a Johannesburg-based writer and photographer who works with documentary photography and creative non-fiction literature. Mabula’s interest in photography sparked when during a visit to a family member she was introduced to the works of black documentary photographers like Santu Mofokeng and Andrew Tshabangu. This led to her studying photojournalism and documentary photography at the Market Photo workshop. She is the 2018 recipient of the Tierney fellowship at the Market photo workshop and was a finalist in the Gerald Kraak anthology and award. Tshepiso is the 2021 Photo works UK writer in residence and was part of the class of 2018 Design Indaba emerging creatives. She is the winner of the 2021 Toyin Falola Short story prize and a member of the Umhlabathi Collective in Johannesburg. She explores the small things through photography: exposing the humanity in oppositional, chaotic, or even boring environments. Her work seeks to reflect the dignity in ordinary people, far removed from the glamorous or ideal atmospheres of high-profile photography. Her work deals mostly with memory, loss, and the fleeting sense of what it means to belong. She creates works that uses strong creative approaches to reconcile past and present and seeks to create work that serves both as a historical archive as well as a critical account of humanity.
“Umbhedesho wamathambo”
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The family archive is the first history book that gives us a sense of who we are or where we belong. We’re taught that the foundation of our identity is in our ancestry, in our names, and familial relations. What does it mean when this identity is filtered through people’s memories? How do we begin to have conversations with ourselves and with our ancestors while also holding each other accountable for the ways in which we’ve allowed the violence of coloniality to become a part of our identity. Memory is the narrator and though it is often unreliable, memory is the author of the stories that become us, who we are, who were and who will become. Memory curates the archive and informs the viewpoint. Memory: no matter whose voice it assumes, decides what gets to be seen and unseen and thus it must be interrogated. What informs memory? Which parts of my personal history are accurate? What is accurate? What part of history is fact and what part is fiction? Where do these two ideas intersect? Umbedesho wamathambo is a personal and introspective look at my family’s own archive as well as its implications on me and the person I am becoming. The work uses archival images, short stories, text and photography to re-imagine my family’s archive as seen through my own experiences and position within the family. The work looks at themes around identity, religion, the fleeting sense of what it means to belong and notions of home and home making.
“Umbhedesho wamathambo”
The family archive is the first history book that gives us a sense of who we are or where we belong. We’re taught that the foundation of our identity is in our ancestry, in our names, and familial relations. What does it mean when this identity is filtered through people’s memories? How do we begin to have conversations with ourselves and with our ancestors while also holding each other accountable for the ways in which we’ve allowed the violence of coloniality to become a part of our identity. Memory is the narrator and though it is often unreliable, memory is the author of the stories that become us, who we are, who were and who will become. Memory curates the archive and informs the viewpoint. Memory: no matter whose voice it assumes, decides what gets to be seen and unseen and thus it must be interrogated. What informs memory? Which parts of my personal history are accurate? What is accurate? What part of history is fact and what part is fiction? Where do these two ideas intersect? Umbedesho wamathambo is a personal and introspective look at my family’s own archive as well as its implications on me and the person I am becoming. The work uses archival images, short stories, text and photography to re-imagine my family’s archive as seen through my own experiences and position within the family. The work looks at themes around identity, religion, the fleeting sense of what it means to belong and notions of home and home making.
Uiler Costa-Santos
Brazil
Uiler Costa-Santos
Brazil
Uiler Costa-Santos was born in 1983, and lives and works in Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia, Brazil. He is a visual artist and educator. Through photography and the study of images, his research seeks to interlace the imagination of the landscape and the politics of redistribution of the senses through abstraction. His work uses images as aesthetic vehicles, and he employs them as tools to offer the body different perceptual experiences based on common, everyday spaces, returning to it the potentialities of geo-political imagination. Since 2017 the artist has dedicated himself to the series “Sizigia”, a project using aerial photography of the Itaparica channel, a region on the coast of Bahia, in which he traces different reliefs and movements of the tide creating new ways to interpret the local landscape. In 2022 he held the solo exhibitions Cosmologia da maré baixa [Cosmology of low tide] (Galeria Babel-SP) and Coroas [Crowns] (Museu de Arte da Bahia-BA). His group exhibitions include the Rencontres de Bamako Photography Biennial 2022-2023. Since 2015 he has taught photography courses with an emphasis on technique and poetic research, such as the collection management workshop he gave at the V Festival de fotografia em Tempo e Afeto [5th Festival of Photography in Time and Affection (Belém-PA). His artistic work is represented by Paulo Darzé Galeria (BR), Babel (BR/USA) and São Mamede (PT).
"Coroas"
The "Coroas" series is a project that integrates the Sizígia (syzygies) project, where I propose an encounter between technique and poetry through aerial photography in the areas of Todos-os-Santos Bay, a coastal region of Bahia marked by many cultural and historical events. Sizígias are moments of connection in which the sea, soil and rivers build new geographical markings, or even where space-time reacts to the movement of the cosmos to produce reliefs and maps. It is in the Sizígias that where landscapes are transmuted and where we perceive everyday life and its constant capacity for creation. In the "Coroas" series, this abstraction game reveals to us the presence of a sophisticated fishing technology. Known as "Pesqueiros", the engineering of these areas is made using an ancestral knowledge of fishing. The wooden circles are structured by the connection with the low and high tides of the sea and reveal the possibility of understanding fishing not as a means of exploration and extraction of natural resources, but as a form of relationship between humans and non-humans. My goal with the construction of these landscapes is, through the imagination, the game of movements that the sea provides to human practices when these two forms of life come to inhabit the same plane of experience. In its radical limit, the "pesqueiros" allow us to fable other options for the impasses brought by the present when we discuss the ways of knowledge, inhabiting and existing.
"Coroas"
The "Coroas" series is a project that integrates the Sizígia (syzygies) project, where I propose an encounter between technique and poetry through aerial photography in the areas of Todos-os-Santos Bay, a coastal region of Bahia marked by many cultural and historical events. Sizígias are moments of connection in which the sea, soil and rivers build new geographical markings, or even where space-time reacts to the movement of the cosmos to produce reliefs and maps. It is in the Sizígias that where landscapes are transmuted and where we perceive everyday life and its constant capacity for creation. In the "Coroas" series, this abstraction game reveals to us the presence of a sophisticated fishing technology. Known as "Pesqueiros", the engineering of these areas is made using an ancestral knowledge of fishing. The wooden circles are structured by the connection with the low and high tides of the sea and reveal the possibility of understanding fishing not as a means of exploration and extraction of natural resources, but as a form of relationship between humans and non-humans. My goal with the construction of these landscapes is, through the imagination, the game of movements that the sea provides to human practices when these two forms of life come to inhabit the same plane of experience. In its radical limit, the "pesqueiros" allow us to fable other options for the impasses brought by the present when we discuss the ways of knowledge, inhabiting and existing.
Xaadim Bamba Mbow
Senegal
Xaadim Bamba Mbow
Senegal
Born in Dakar, Senegal Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Mbow aka Xaadim grew up in a family of artists. His passion for art follows him like his shadow from an early age. Surrounded by a father who is an art lover and collector who devoted himself to sculpture of recovered objects after his retirement, aunts and uncles’ craftsmen and creators (textile painting, shoemaking, sewing etc.), Xaadim was immersed very early in a creative environment which strongly influenced him. Already young, he was part of a group of graphists in his neighborhood and it was in 2011 that he began painting on canvas while continuing his law studies at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar. After a master's degree in law, he decided to devote himself fully to photography. With his master's degree in public law in hand, he continues to devote himself to his passion: Art. In photography he started as an amateur and began to get noticed in the Dakar artistic community. He took part in major exhibitions organized by gallery owners and during major cultural events such as PartCours, the Dakar biennale, and in Switzerland. Today, Xaadim is a complete artist from painting to photography.
At first, he began to photograph subjects and created series like “Empreintes du temps” (immortalizing the impact of time passing on man, and on things) which were so expressive. Followed by Debbo Ko Lekki (Women are tree), Bekkor, Ramatou and recently he started his series on cultural and religious syncretism, Timbuktu Nostalgia, L’Etranger…
“The traveler”
He returned from his journey, rich as a pauper and ignorant as an encyclopedia. His numerous travels allowed him to witness the extraordinary diversity of the world. He saw peoples who prayed to Allah, others to Yahweh, others to Christ, and still others to Krishna, and so on. He even saw people who did not pray. "Peoples without God," he thought. He observed that in certain regions of the world, men dressed as women, and women as men. Some didn't even bother to dress. "The world has gone mad," he whispered. His journey indeed helped him understand that the best knowledge is that acquired through lived experience. The journey became a necessity. Physical journey, intellectual journey, spiritual journey, cultural journey. One just must go. Tukki* is going towards others to discover oneself. Stepping out of one's comfort zone for different experiences. Tukki to understand, to understand the world, to understand others, and to know one's limits. Finally, the traveler returned home not different in his faith, but in his perspective of the world. His wanderings made him even wiser. The world became more beautiful but less valuable. He realized that traveling was answering the call of destiny. Some travel to escape, others to conquer, and the wisest to seek. He had initially set out to discover the world but ultimately returned with a full understanding of himself.
“The traveler”
He returned from his journey, rich as a pauper and ignorant as an encyclopedia. His numerous travels allowed him to witness the extraordinary diversity of the world. He saw peoples who prayed to Allah, others to Yahweh, others to Christ, and still others to Krishna, and so on. He even saw people who did not pray. "Peoples without God," he thought. He observed that in certain regions of the world, men dressed as women, and women as men. Some didn't even bother to dress. "The world has gone mad," he whispered. His journey indeed helped him understand that the best knowledge is that acquired through lived experience. The journey became a necessity. Physical journey, intellectual journey, spiritual journey, cultural journey. One just must go. Tukki* is going towards others to discover oneself. Stepping out of one's comfort zone for different experiences. Tukki to understand, to understand the world, to understand others, and to know one's limits. Finally, the traveler returned home not different in his faith, but in his perspective of the world. His wanderings made him even wiser. The world became more beautiful but less valuable. He realized that traveling was answering the call of destiny. Some travel to escape, others to conquer, and the wisest to seek. He had initially set out to discover the world but ultimately returned with a full understanding of himself.
Zahui Yvann
Côte d'Ivoire
Zahui Yvann
Côte d'Ivoire
Zahui Yvann (Cote d’Ivoire, 2001) is an art director and visual artist/photographer. His visual language is deeply rooted in Afrofuturism, through which he blends photography and constructed images to express his African identity and shed light on the societal issues that confront today’s generation.
He studied Filmmaking and Multimedia Computer Graphics at Accra Film School (Ghana). He worked at Voodoo communication Group as a Graphic Designer. Since 2022, he works as an art director at MW DDB.
In 2020, He became a Catchlight Student and exhibited in the “Still I rise” exhibition of Aida Muluneh. He also worked on projects such as “Road to Glory - The Nobel Peace Prize 2020” and “Reframing Neglect - End Fund”.
Zahui Yvann’s work has been shown at the Institut Français du design for the Biennale internationale du Design Saint Étienne for Explore Outside The Box (France), the Museum of Abobo (Ivory Coast) and Windsor gallery (Ivory Coast). In 2022 he became part of the 40 artists selected by Vogue Italia, for the Photo Vogue Festival in Milano (Italy).
"Superficial"
"Superficial" is a thought-provoking series that delves into a question that I have been asking myself for the past few months: Why do we find ourselves in a generation plagued by low self-esteem? The cosmetic surgery industry has seen a significant boom in Africa over the years. What used to be a luxury has now become as commonplace as taking a simple painkiller. However, what troubles the artist is the prevalence of unlicensed individuals who hold the fate of innocent lives in their hands. I chose Grand-Bassam as the setting, the first capital of Ivory Coast and historically known as the first slavery coast in the country. It serves as a poignant reminder of how bodies were once exchanged for money and freedom, a painful history that still echoes in contemporary issues. This project follows the journey of the beautiful women who struggle to find contentment with their inner self and body. They seek external solutions to obtain the physique they desire so much.
"Superficial"
"Superficial" is a thought-provoking series that delves into a question that I have been asking myself for the past few months: Why do we find ourselves in a generation plagued by low self-esteem? The cosmetic surgery industry has seen a significant boom in Africa over the years. What used to be a luxury has now become as commonplace as taking a simple painkiller. However, what troubles the artist is the prevalence of unlicensed individuals who hold the fate of innocent lives in their hands. I chose Grand-Bassam as the setting, the first capital of Ivory Coast and historically known as the first slavery coast in the country. It serves as a poignant reminder of how bodies were once exchanged for money and freedom, a painful history that still echoes in contemporary issues. This project follows the journey of the beautiful women who struggle to find contentment with their inner self and body. They seek external solutions to obtain the physique they desire so much.
Abobo Students
Doumbia Mohamed
Côte d'Ivoire
Doumbia Mohamed
Côte d'Ivoire
Doumbia Mohamed, a passionate photographer, aspires to capture the world through his unique lens, specializing in photojournalism. Born in Abobo, Abidjan, in 2003, he holds a Baccalaureate in series A2. His photographic journey began at 18 with a smartphone. He honed his skills through training sessions with renowned Ethiopian photographer Aida Muluneh, deepening his love for this art.
Known for his street photography, Doumbia draws inspiration from South African photographer Santu Mofokeng, capturing moments of entertainment, joy, and community culture. His images tell compelling stories, eliciting a range of emotions.
Despite his relatively short career, Doumbia Mohamed embarked on a remarkable project celebrating his hometown, Abobo. His work earned recognition from notable figures, including Côte d'Ivoire's Minister of Culture, Madame Françoise Remarck.
Using a simple smartphone, Doumbia creates visual masterpieces. His ambition is to achieve global recognition as an accomplished photographer, with a dedication to mentoring emerging talents.
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Abdoul Razack Koara
Côte d'Ivoire
Abdoul Razack Koara
Côte d'Ivoire
Abdoul Razack Koara is a dedicated photographer with a passion for capturing the world through his unique perspective, specializing in smartphone photography. Born in Abengourou and raised in Bonahouin, he embarked on his educational journey from CP1 in 2011, achieving academic milestones until obtaining his BAC in July 2023.
Koara's deep appreciation for visual beauty traces back to his village. His fascination with photography ignited at 14 when he discovered his first camera, igniting a passion that continues to grow. Known for his dedication to religion and architectural photography, Koara's images narrate compelling stories and evoke a wide range of emotions. Despite his relatively short professional career, he's already exhibited photos, notably in the first edition of Africa Foto Fair 2022, focusing on the theme of religion in Abobo. His work has garnered recognition and praise for its success.
Koara's creative tool of choice is a simple smartphone, valuing authenticity in his visual creations. In the future, he aspires to elevate his photography skills to achieve a higher level of recognition as a photographer.
Togola Mohamed
Côte d'Ivoire
Togola Mohamed
Côte d'Ivoire
Togola Mohamed, a passionate photography enthusiast, specializes in impactful black and white photojournalism. Born on December 29, 2001, in Abobo, Côte d'Ivoire, he is the eldest of three siblings. In 2023, he earned his Baccalaureate in the A series and is currently a student in visual communication.
Togola's photography journey was ignited during a visit to MuCAT in 2022 at the first edition of the Africa Foto Fair , where he attended a smartphone photography workshop led by the influential Aida Muluneh. He recognized photography as a powerful means to have his voice heard in a world dominated by visual storytelling.
Armed with a smartphone, Togola embarked on street photography in Abobo, guided by his mentor, Aida Muluneh. His mission is to reshape perceptions of Abobo, emphasizing the courage and positivity of its youth, particularly street vendors.
Despite his relatively brief career, Togola Mohamed is participating for the second time in the AFRICA FOTO FAIR exhibitions, garnering public acclaim for his insightful work.
Togola creates his photographs without excessive editing, valuing authenticity and capturing moments as they are. He aspires to document Abobo in the near future and expand his work across Côte d'Ivoire and beyond.
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