The photographer Samuel Fosso set up a studio in Bangui, in the Central African Republic, at the age of thirteen, after fleeing the civil war in Nigeria. Fosso took portraits during the day to earn a living; at night, he turned the camera on himself, and sent the resulting self-portraits to his mother, who remained in Nigeria. Over the following decades, Fosso created a body of work that became increasingly provocative and experimental. After winning an award at African Photography Encounters, Africa’s most important photography festival, in 1994, Fosso gained international recognition; today, he is widely considered one of Africa’s most important contemporary artists.
Last February, amid catastrophic violence in the Central African Republic, Fosso’s studio was ransacked and much of his archive destroyed. Despite this, the Walther Collection in New York has managed to stage a solo exhibition of Fosso’s work. His series “African Spirits” and “The Emperor of Africa,” on view for the first time in the U.S, include well-known self-portraits of Fosso impersonating civil-rights and African-independence leaders. Also on view are recent color works and Fosso’s early studio portraits, suggestive of the work of Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé, which have never before been shown.
“Samuel Fosso” is on view at the Walther Collection through January 17, 2015.
All images copyright Samuel Fosso, courtesy the Walther Collection and Jean Marc Patras Galerie.
