Samuel Fosso, Won Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize
Samuel Fosso has won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023. Artist Zak Ové announced the news at a special ceremony at The Photographers’ Gallery Deutsche Börse in London on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Fosso received the prestigious £30,000 award for his significant contribution to contemporary photography over the past year.
Fosso was recognized for his exhibition “Samuel Fosso” at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. The exhibition ran from November 10, 2021, to March 13, 2022. Samuel Fosso’s photography career spans nearly 50 years. He focuses on self-portraits and performative photography, starting in the mid-1970s. Born in Kumba, Cameroon, in 1962, Fosso fled the Biafran War as a child. He then settled with his uncle in Bangui, Central African Republic. At thirteen, he opened Studio Photo Nationale in 1975. There, he began creating self-portraits alongside his commercial work. Known for his series “Samuel Fosso African Spirits,” he portrays historical figures and social archetypes. His photography constructs myths and explores personal identity. Fosso says his self-portraits help him reclaim aspects of his childhood he felt were missing.
The jury for the 2023 prize included Natalie Herschdorfer, Mahtab Hussain, Thyago Nogueria, Anne-Marie Beckmann, and Shoair Mavlian. They praised Fosso’s impactful self-portraiture, which blends traditional studio techniques with contemporary political themes. Anne-Marie Beckmann highlighted the retrospective’s success in offering new insights into Samuel Fosso’s art and broadening its audience. She also congratulated the other shortlisted artists, Bieke Depoorter, Arthur Jafa, and Frida Orupabo, for their powerful contributions to the exhibition and the field of photography.
