Known for his self-portraits in which he inhabits a vibrant array of personas, Cameroonian-Nigerian photographer Samuel Fosso (b. 1962; Kumba, Cameroon) examines African identities and histories through costume and impersonation, emphasizing self-representation as a locus of empowerment. Since the early 1970s, Fosso has explored archetypal figures from Africa and beyond, embodying characters in varied series in which the artist constructs and deconstructs personae both imagined and historical. In this way, the artist both celebrates and questions notions of African identity and takes an active stance in the dynamics of viewership on a global stage.
Fosso was born in Cameroon to Nigerian parents, and was raised in Afikpo, Nigeria, before fleeing unrest in the region in 1972 following the Nigerian Civil War. Settling in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, the artist opened his own photo portrait studio at just thirteen years old after spending a year as an apprentice. A key element for success as a studio photographer at that time was expediency, and Fosso’s clientele demanded a quick turnaround for their photographs. In an effort to finish rolls of film so they could be processed at the end of each day’s work, the artist would take irreverent and off-the-cuff self-portraits, sparking a practice that would continue for the rest of his career.
Samuel Fosso has mounted solo exhibitions at many prominent institutions, including the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Germany; the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; the Menil Collection, Houston, TX, and the National Portrait Gallery, London, England, among many others. Fosso has exhibited work in numerous prominent group exhibitions internationally, including the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX; Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France; the Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France. Works by Fosso are held in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; the Tate Modern, London, England; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, among others. In 1994, Fosso was awarded 1st Prize at the Rencontres de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali, which launched his career internationally. The artist has since been awarded numerous prizes and accolades, such as the Prix Afrique en Creations in 1995, the First Prize for photography at the Dak’Art Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain, Dakar, Senegal in 2000, and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2023. Fosso lives and works between Bangui, Central African Republic and Paris, France.