Samuel Fosso

Samuel Fosso was born in Cameroon in 1962, Fosso spent his early childhood in Nigeria, but in 1970, due to the Biafra war, he was forced to flee to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. Fosso started his career as a portrait photographer at the age of thirteen, using leftover film to shoot a series of self-portraits. He has since achieved international renown with his carefully staged, highly original self-portraits. Fosso's work is reflective, ironic and demonstrates the possibility of changing the meaning of the human body through performances. His work undermines the traditional notion of identity, using a creativity and a 'fantasy space' quite unusual in African photography. Photographs by Samuel Fosso were exhibited for the first time in 1994 during the first edition of the Rencontres de la Photographie (Africa's main photographic festival) in Bamako, Mali, where he won first prize. He has been invited to many other collective exhibits including: In/sight: African PhotographersBonetti, Maria Francesca is the author of 'Samuel Fosso', published 2004 under ISBN 9788874391011 and ISBN 8874391013.