Samuel Fosso is a Master of Self-Representation
Identity has always been an important question in art, though it's potentially more relevant now than ever before. As the world continues to grapple with coexistence and how to make an ever-increasing range of voices feel valued, creatives (and regular people) everywhere are exploring the various aspects that shape their core selves, exposing and discovering new complexities along the way. But as a new book highlighting Samuel Fosso is here to show, exploring self-representation is an ongoing journey that's all the more fascinating when one commits to the long-term process.
Bringing together for the first time the Nigerian photographer’s pioneering series of self-portraits, Samuel Fosso: Autoportrait (releasing January 21, 2020) presents an artist whose remarkable body of work was groundbreaking for its time. In the post-colonial era, the photographer has been exploring identity and self-representation, focusing on the various African and Western elements that have influenced his experience. With nearly a half-century of works in his oeuvre, the contemporary artist has always pushed the conversation forward with his engagement with themes of culture, gender, and sexuality, and the new book charts his career from its beginnings to today.
Beginning in the ‘70s, Fosso set about to photograph himself, assuming the guise of various African and American archetypes. He started out working in black and white, then gradually explored more colors and concepts through books like Tati (1997) and African Spirits (2008). A practice and subject matter that spanned several decades, Fosso’s “auto-portraits” offer a self-reflective counterpoint to the highly stylized studio portraits by the likes of African photographers such as Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé, further proving the diversity of art on the continent while bringing attention to his own layered complexity. In the spring of 2020, New York’s Walther Collection will exhibit a selection of Fosso’s “autoportraits” for a show that is certain to bring further awareness of the artist’s exceptional images.
