This series showcases Fosso’s earliest attempts at his now renowned portraiture. These early images where made for himself and for his grandmother, who he would often send images to. Featuring the iconic black and white tiled floor (reminiscent of West-African photography of Malick Sidibe or Seydoux Keita), Fosso begins a mission of self-discovery in which he plays with norms of identity and fashion. In this image, Fosso sports iconic 1970s bell bottom trousers; the artist was inspired by the fashions of West African pop icons and images from American magazines.

Cameroonian photographer, Samuel Fosso, is widely recognized as glass ceiling breaker for the work that he has done in pushing the bounds of studio-based portraiture and identity expression in post-colonial Africa.

Later in his career, Fosso’s photographs become more performative and exaggerated, embracing colour and cost.mes , delving deeper into gender and sexuality. Fosso creates work which is deeply personal and yet universally relatable.

In 2020, Steidl published (co-published by The Walther collects ion, NYC) a comprehensive survey of Samuel Fosso’s work, Autoportrait. Fosso continues to live and work in Bangui, Central African Republic.