THE “ THE STUDIO OF VANITIES” SERIES

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“The studio of vanities” series, posed portraits of the African cultural scene.

“Here are the new faces of the continent’s urban cultures. They are black, Arab, white, whatever. They are creative and ambitious, but above all, they work to make their visions a reality. I paint the portrait of a generation which is working to position the African city as a crucible of contemporary creation, a place of exchange and production. It is a question here of going beyond the purely representative exercise which wants each portrait to be the “immortalization” of a silly smile in its Sunday best. The approach is collaborative, in the sense that the subject and I assemble clothing and decorative clues carrying identity assertions, social translations, “sartorial statements”. In this Studio des Vanités, appearing is already a way of being. The vanities that let themselves blossom here are playful, optimistic and conquering. They offer the world what it nourished them with: a Creole soul. » about the artist

THE WORK

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Aminata, "This portrait of Aminata FAYE is a bit like "my" Mona Lisa. Aminata, model, student and competitive athlete seems to navigate between generations - certainly because she has the grace of a Serer (an ethnic group from the Senegalese coast whose Léopold Sédar Senghor was a loving prince) and this elegant reserve with which Senegalese mothers feed their daughters even before the first drop of milk. His mischievous air and his prepared pose suggest more than they show... This is the best expression of the Senegalese femininity that I have been able to photograph to date." Omar Victor Diop