SAMUEL FOSSO, Autoportrait

351pp., 4to., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Göttingen & New York, 2020

Contributions by Quentin Bajac, Yves Chatap, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Okwui Enwezor, Chika Okeke-Agulu, Oluremi C. Onabanjo, Jean Marc Patras, Terry Smith, Claire Staebler, James Merle Thomas, and Arthur Walther.

Text in English and French.

"Engaging with notions of perception and sexuality, Fosso’s groundbreaking portraiture reflects themes of global culture and the freedom of self-expression.” Vanity Fair

Samuel Fosso was born in Kumba in Cameroon in 1962 to Nigerian parents. He fled Nigeria and the Biafra War and settled in Bangui in the Central African Republic where he opened his own commercial photography studio in 1975 at the age of 13. Alongside his portrait work Fosso began a series of selfportraits, a mode of representation he has never abandoned. In 2018 he was honoured by the Infinity Awards (Art) for his series “Black Pope” by the International Center of Photography, New York. He continues to live and work in Bangui.

Curator, scholar, writer and critic Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019) organised Documenta 11 in Germany in 2002 and was Artistic Director of the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.