The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives In Photographic Portraiture From Africa

By Joshua I. Cohen, Sandrine Collard, and Giulia Paoletti

Acknowledgements by Deborah Cullen

Preface by Z. S. Strother


From 19th-century studio practice through the independence era, African photography has best been known for modes of portraiture that crystallise the sitter’s identity and social milieu. Even portraits by contemporary artists are often interpreted as windows into African realities. This publication reconsiders African contemporary photographic portraiture by presenting four practitioners whose concerns range well beyond questions of social identity. Sammy Baloji, Mohamed Camara, Saïdou Dicko and George Osodi expand their subjects’ interpretive possibilities, exemplifying a new creativity and versatility in portrait-making.