5 rising african photographers tackling identity and...

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5 rising african photographers tackling identityand beauty

Tomorrow night, Red Hook Labs and Nataal will open "New African Photography II," agroup exhibition dedicated to work that engages with modern Africa. We spotlight five of

the show’s image-makers.

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Last year, Red Hook Labs partnered with African creative media platform Nataal to present New

African Photography (http://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/meet-the-photographers-exploring-

contemporary-african-identity). The co-curated group show united six established and emerging

photographers whose work interfaces with the African continent and diaspora. Among these artists

were i-D contributor Kristin-Lee Moolman and photographer Namsa Leuba, renowned for her

vibrantly colorful set designs. The show opened just weeks after the death of Malick Sidibé, the

photographer who captured the youth culture of his native Mali. Sidibé's iconic images — made

chiefly during the 1950s and 60s, in the wake of the country's independence — have recently

inspired Gucci (http://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/gucci-digs-the-soul-scene-in-funky-new-pre-fall-

campaign) and Dev Hynes (https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/dev-hynes-drops-jamaica-set-video-

for-veilhymn-side-project).

Tomorrow night, Red Hook Labs and Nataal will open two concurrent exhibitions in Red Hook:

New African Photography II and Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Modern Mali. The solo exhibition of

37 Sidibé photographs will be jointly presented by1:54 Contemporary Art Fair and MAGNIN-A.

The second iteration of the African photography group show includes an expanded group of nine

http://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/meet-the-photographers-exploring-contemporary-african-identity

http://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/gucci-digs-the-soul-scene-in-funky-new-pre-fall-campaign

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/dev-hynes-drops-jamaica-set-video-for-veilhymn-side-project



image-makers, whose work bridges portrait, documentary, and fashion photography, as well as

video and performance elements. Here, we speak to five of the featured artists about their

perspectives on creativity, beauty, representation, and modern African identity.



Nadine IjewereNadine Ijewere

Last spring, i-D spoke with (https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/nadine-ijewere-shoots-beautiful-

portraits-of-londons-mixed-heritage-sisters) the 24-year-old London-based photographer about her

Same/Difference series. Over the course of a year, Ijewere made intimate studio portraits of the

multi-cultural capital's mixed-heritage sisters. Some of Ijewere's subjects shared her Nigerian roots;

others are Grenadian, Trinidadian, Ghanaian, Greek-Cypriot, German, and Chinese. "Throughout

my work is the underlying theme of identity," the photographer tells i-D. "I am drawn to shoot

subjects with [a] range of ethnicities because I believe that how diverse we are should be

celebrated — that beauty comes in many forms, all wonderful to capture." For New African

Photography II, Ijewere created a new series outside of the studio, in collaboration with a fellow

London-based rising star, stylist Ibrahim Kamara (https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/campbell-

ibrahim-king-and-harry-the-next-generation-of-london-creativity). The dynamic duo traveled to

Nigeria, where Ijewere's acute sensitivity to color and softness came alive on the streets.

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/nadine-ijewere-shoots-beautiful-portraits-of-londons-mixed-heritage-sisters

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/campbell-ibrahim-king-and-harry-the-next-generation-of-london-creativity



Mimi Cherono Ng'okMimi Cherono Ng'ok

This Kenyan born and based photographer counts (http://africasacountry.com/2014/01/the-

work-of-kenyan-photographer-mimi-cherono-ngok/) Spike Lee's Crooklyn, Felix Gonzalez-Torres's

billboards, and Japanese photobooks among her diverse influences. But her images — often

washed in yellow, and capturing plays between light and shadow — bring to mind William

Eggleston. Like the Memphis master of color, Cherono Ng'ok makes subtle photographs that, in the

http://africasacountry.com/2014/01/the-work-of-kenyan-photographer-mimi-cherono-ngok/



words of Red Hook Labs, "often deal with issues of home, displacement, loss, and identity." Her

past series have focused on African immigrants living in South Africa, where Cherono Ng'ok herself

lived for years after completing her studies at the University of Cape Town.

Cyndia HarveyCyndia Harvey

London-based hairstylist Cyndia Harvey has created images for i-D with some of today's most

exciting stylists and photographers (think Harley Weir, Oliver Hadlee Pearch, Angelo Pennetta). But

at Red Hook Labs, the Jamaican-born luminary is exhibiting This Hair of Mine, a personal project

that traces the African diaspora through the development of deeply nuanced hair styles. "This Hair

of Mine, in a way, is a self-portrait exploring heritage and paying homage to black women of

today and before our time," Harvey tells i-D. The project incorporates a film made in collaboration

with director Akinola Davies, and a series of portraits taken by another i-D fave, photographer

Ronan Mckenzie. "[The work presents] an intimate look at black beauty and the women who

represents it," says Harvey. Don't miss it!



Nobukho NqabaNobukho Nqaba

"I observe normal people doing everyday things," the South African photographer and

performance artist tells i-D about her process. Nqaba derives inspiration from others, but by doing

so, she finds what she calls "traces of my past." Her images are at once deeply personal and truly

global. For her 2012 series Umaskhenkethe Likhaya Lam

(http://www.nobukhonqaba.com/umaskhenkethe-likhaya-lam-1/), Nqaba constructed elaborate

sets out of Umaskhenkethe — the Xhosa word for those plaid plastic bags found in Chinatowns

across the world, and on the Céline runway. On view at Red Hook Labs is her her latest series,

Ndiyayekelela (Letting Go). This body of work — shaped by the death of the artist's father, and her

struggle to process it — also makes use of textiles as multi-layered symbols. Blankets and overalls

invoke her father's life as a migrant worker in rural South Africa, and simultaneously connect to

notions of impermanent homes and shelters.

http://www.nobukhonqaba.com/umaskhenkethe-likhaya-lam-1/



Kyle WeeksKyle Weeks

Cape Town-based photographer Kyle Weeks has collaborated with the Himba people of his

native Namibia on two arresting series: 2014's Ovahimba Youth Self Portraits, and Palm Wine

Collectors, made the following year. "Considering my position as a white African (of western

descent) I set out to collaborate with these men to produce two bodies of work in which the

relationship between myself and the participating men was foregrounded," Weeks tells i-D. "In the

first, I collaborated with nearly 90 young Himba men to produce a series of empowering self-

portraits which highlight a distinct balance between tradition and modernity in their expression

through self-fashioning." This three-year collaboration enabled Weeks to build a relationship of trust

and respect with the community, which introduced him to the subject of his second series: the

process of tapping Makalani Palm trees for wine.

"I think my attraction to photographing people lies in photography's complicated history of

representation of the African continent. My awareness of how its function has shifted from being a

tool of oppression during colonialism, to becoming a means of empowerment and self-expression,"

Weeks explains. "Contemporary African photography aims to establish new narratives and

identities, both personal and cultural; my work is often influenced by its past and present uses, as I

hope to produce images that drive important dialogue on documentary photography as well as the

ethics of representing cultural 'difference.'"

'Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Modern Mali' is on view at Red Hook Labs from May 4-7. 'New

African Photography II' is on view at Red Hook Labs from May 4-14. More information here

(https://redhooklabs.com/exhibitions/nataal-new-african-photography-ii/).

Related: Nadine Ijewere shoots beautiful portraits of London's mixed-heritage sistersRelated: Nadine Ijewere shoots beautiful portraits of London's mixed-heritage sisters

(https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/nadine-ijewere-shoots-beautiful-portraits-of-londons-mixed-

heritage-sisters)

Credits

Text Emily Manning

https://redhooklabs.com/exhibitions/nataal-new-african-photography-ii/

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/nadine-ijewere-shoots-beautiful-portraits-of-londons-mixed-heritage-sisters

5 rising african photographers tackling identity and...

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