Samuel Fosso discovered the art of photography in the Central African Republic in the ‘70s after fleeing war-torn Nigeria as a child. Decades later, his work had to be rescued as conflict tore apart his adopted home.
Born in Cameroon to an Igbo family, award-winning photographer Samuel Fosso lived in Nigeria as a child, until the Biafran War — which killed a million mostly Igbo people and which some call a genocide — forced him to flee.
He ended up moving to Bangui, Central African Republic, in 1972, when he was 10 years old.
Photograph by Samuel Fosso courtesy the Walther Collection and Jean Marc Patras Galerie
Earlier this year, Fosso's studio was raided by rebels in ongoing violence in the Central African Republic. Fosso had already fled the country, and now lives in Paris; two journalists and his housekeeper rescued his priceless archive.
Photograph by Samuel Fosso courtesy the Walther Collection and Jean Marc Patras Galerie
Fosso's early work wasn't about war and death. It was about the high, playful style of the streets of Bangui.
These photos are from his Self-Portraits from the '70s.
Photograph by Samuel Fosso courtesy the Walther Collection and Jean Marc Patras Galerie
But even the playful is political. As Fosso later told Libération, "I use my body to amuse, to say that everyone can do as he or she wants." Under the autocratic reign of '70s president Jean-Bedel Bokassa, self-expression was no small act.
Photograph by Samuel Fosso courtesy the Walther Collection and Jean Marc Patras Galerie
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