CLASSIC OLD-SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY IN GHANA

Philip Kwame Apagya was born in Sekondi in Western Ghana in 1958, after a period of apprenticeship in his father’s photo studio (a former crime-scene photographer), he worked as a travelling photographer for a while in Ivory Coast following the colour revolution in the late 1980s. After his photojournalism studies at the Ghana institute of journalism, he opened his own studio in Shama in the Western region of Ghana in 1982.

Philip Kwame Apagya is known worldwide, because of his participation in many personal and collective exhibitions. among others:

'Snap Me One!' studio photographers in africa ,special emphasis was put on the studio decorations. the items shown include 150 photographs, 10 original backdrops from ghana as well as other materials. visitors had the opportunity to be ‘snapped’ in front of a backdrop of their choice. the photos were taken by Philip Kwame Apagya.

A DesignBoom review of Philip’s works states

“ In africa, a photo studio is the place where dreams come true. for a few pence, ordinary mortals can strike a pose and achieve immortality, have things they haven’t got and may never have, be people they are not and may never be, have access to the inaccessible. People start asking for personal portraits that go beyond the image usually present on identity papers, often the only ‘popular portrait’ available. this open new roads to the art of photographic portrait, with possibility for the artist to catch special moments in people’s existence: people ask for a picture for several reasons, but with the common desire to have a ‘funny picture’. In this process, new forms of self-representation become part of a new social identity: this is the framework in which we might consider the work of Philip Kwame Apagya.

Philip Kwame Apagya’s formal portraits in front of commissioned painted backgrounds seem to be suspended between realism and a sort of naïvité, They are both unreal and hyperealistic: the dreams of african people are put on stage - against scenery which praises consumer society.

The subject stands in front of a painted backdrop that portrays everything people dream of having: fake new england country houses showing off some porcelain, VCRs and TVs in bar closets, modern kitchens with well-stocked refrigerators with coke and cheetos… portraits with with a quarter / half / full smile, because nobody in africa is really deceived by make-believe… but for one glorious moment they can have it all.

These portraits are highly amusing for us, ‘western people’, but are also unintentionally disturbing because of the insight they offer into a growing cultural vacuum. This is the dream, and it is empty and materialistic”

Philip’s works has toured the world and exhibited in some of the best galleries.

1998 stadtmuseum, munich; city museum abteiberg, mönchengladbach; iwalewa-house, university of bayreuth; 1999 smithsonianiInstitute, washington 2000 royal tropical institute, amsterdam

a catalogue with the same title is available. ‘snap me one!’ studio photographers in africa prestel-verlag, 1998

‘africa by africa’ / ’ l’afrique par elle-même’ / ‘portrait afrika’ a photographic view 1999 maison européenne de la photographie, paris; barbican art gallery, london; south african national gallery, cape town;

2000, third rencontres de la photographie africaine, bamako, mali; haus der kulturen der welt, berlin;

Yinka Shonibare

A British artist of Nigerian descent, Shonibare (b. 1962) creates work that cites the artistic and intellectual history of Europe. His sculptures—life-sized mannequins clothed in the Dutch wax fabrics associated with Africa—offer a dramatic, playful, irreverent examina­tion of identity, history, and politics.Yinka Shonibare MBE’s decapitated mannequins in their vibrant batik fabric outfits cavort through a collage of influences that the British-born, Nigeria-raised artist has excavated from the complicated history of culture.

Namibia:

Loux The Vintage Guru

“From a young age, I was inspired by my late grandfather, the old man always dressed in suits and shiny shoes and would tell me, “my son, fashion is what you adopt when you don’t yet know who you are, make sure you are always well-dressed”. So I grew up loving fashion from childhood.”

This Saturday we GO BEFOK! PACHANGA SWEAT STYLE IN MABONENG! IT’S A PARRRRRRRRRYTIMMMMMMMMMEEE! AKULALWALWALWALWALWALWA!! 

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THE SUPREME SAPEURS - SAPEUREMES

Paris #11

backstage

Paris #10

Soundcheck at La Gaite Lyrique, with @tamillionaire on the visuals and @thegooddokta on the beats.

Paris #6

Arriving at La Gaite Lyrique