He opened his own studio, where he would take photographs of people for passports, portraits and weddings. It was called Studio Photo Nationale, and his motto was: "You will be beautiful, elegant, delicate, and easy to recognise." (http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/19/photographer-samuel-fosso-best-shot)
His clients generally wanted their photographs the next day. So if the roll of film wasn't finished Fosso would take self-portraits, to prevent any waste of film. Originally they were to send to his mother, so that she knew he was okay. He then began experimenting more with the self-portraiture; using new poses, costumes, new techniques.
Fosso uses a Hasselblad and an auto-timer. His photos are highly posed and staged, yet he makes statements.
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| © Samuel Fosso's self-portrait as an African chief. |
"I am 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. It's about the history of the white man and the black man in Africa. Because they may try to cover it up these days, you know, but underneath it's still the same."
I like that Fosso is making a statement through his work, it is as though he is trying to bring forward issues without making a biased statement, he is bringing it forward and allowing others to think and make up their own minds. It is really quite powerful.
In my work however, I won't be doing self-portraits and I'm hoping to not set-up any of my images. Yet just document what I see and experience. I don't feel that this work has any direct influences into my work, at this present time.
