Contextual research

This morning we had a contextual lecture on different photographers that have grown up from different backgrounds. I didn't find the lecture very interesting but I thought that I would research some of the artists that were included in the lecture so that I could use them in the future if I needed to.

1. Samuel Fosso

Fosso was born in Kumba which in 1962 was an independent state in Nigeria. He grew up in Kumba until he had to flee to Central African Republic in 1972 because of the Nigerian Civil War. In the Central African Republic he began to work as an assisstant photographer when he was only 12 and then a year later when he was 13 became a portrait photographer in his own studio. He used to create self - portraits to fill up unused film and then send them to his mother who lived away but now he uses his self - portraits showcasing different personas.

In this picture Fosso is 'an African chief, in a western chair with a leopard - skin cover, and a bouquet of sunflowers. I am all the African chiefs who have sold their continent to the white men. I am saying: we had our own systems, our own rulers, before you came.' This picture is about the history of the white and black men in Africa.

2. Phyllis Galembo

Galembo is a New York based fine arts photographer who graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1977 and has been a professor in the Fine Arts department of SUNY Albany since 1978. Galembo has made over 20 trips to rituals in Africa and the Caribbean attempting to capture cultural performances. Galembo takes pictures of her models informally using their natural poses for the photos.