Samuel Fosso was born in 1962 at Kunmba (Cameroon). He lived in Nigeria from 1965 to 1972, then moved to Bangui, Central African Republic, where he opened his first photography studio in 1975.
Thanks to Bernard Descamps’ research, Samuel Fosso’s self-portraits are shown for the first time in 1994 at the "1st Bamako Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine", launched by Françoise Huguier, who discovered both Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keita.
Samuel Fosso lives and works in Bangui, Central African Republic.
Solo Shows
2007
My Grand Father’s Dream, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris.
2005
Autoportraits, The Platform for Art, London Underground, Gloucester Road Station.
2004
Samuel Fosso, (restrospective), Calcografia, Rome, Italy
Samuel Fosso, (restrospective),
Centro Internazionale di Fotografia Scavi Scaligeri,
Verona, Italy
2003
Samuel Fosso, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Autoretratos, PhotoEspana 2003. NosOtros, Madrid.
1999
Galerie Maï Ollivier, Paris.
1997- 1998
Samuel Fosso, Photographs, Greengrassi, London.
1996
Galerie du Théâtre, Gap, France
1995
Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris.
Group Shows
2007
Role Exchange, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.
Afica Remix, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
2006
Africa Remix, Mori Art Museum, Japan.
Masquerade: the self in contemporary art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Australia.
The whole world is rotten, C/AC Art Center, Cincinatti, OH, USA.
2005
46th October Art Salon, Belgrade, Serbia.
Africa Remix, Hayward Gallery, London
Africa Remix, Centre Pompidou, Paris
2004
26th Sao Paolo Biennale, Sao Paolo, Brasil .
Image and Identity, Portraits by Philip Kwame Apagya, Samuel Fosso, Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibé »The Sheldon Art Galleries, St Louis, Mo, USA
Africa Screams, Iwalewa Haus University Bayreuth, Germany.
Africa Remix, Museum KunstPalast, Düsseldorf
Catalogue (Catalogue cover, with "Le Chef").
2003
Samuel Fosso, Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibé, Portraits of Pride, Bidens Hus, Sundsvall/Norskt Fotomuseum Oslo, Norway.
Make it Beautiful, the Dandy in Photography, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Brighton, UK.
Geometry of the face, Det Nationale Fotomuseum, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen.Denmark.
2002
The Short Century : Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994. PS1 Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art, Long Island City, New York.
The 6th International Photography Gathering, Aleppo, Syria.
Samuel Fosso, Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibé, Portraits of Pride, September Stockholm Fotofestival, Moderna Museet, C/O Enkehuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
2001
Africa Inside, Tampere, Finland.
The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994.Villa Stück, Munich,
The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994. Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Martin Gröpius Bau,, Berlin.
The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
2000
Dak’Art, Biennale d’Art Contemporain Africain, Dakar, Sénégal.
Africa Inside, « Noordelicht photo Festival, Fries Museum, Leuwarden, Netherlands.
1999
Africa by Africa: a photographic view, Barbican Art Gallery, London.
1998
L’Afrique par elle-même, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris.
1997
Studio Photo, 50 ans des magasins Tati, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.`
L’Abattoir, Châlon-sur –Saône.France
Lumière Noire, Château de Tanlay,. France
Retrats de l’anima, Fotografia Africana, Centre Cultural de la Fundacio la Caixa, Granollers & Vic, Barcelona.
1996
In/Sight : African Photographers,1940 to the present, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Artothèque, Grenoble, France.
Festival des Trois continents, Nantes, France.
1995
Photographes Africains, FNAC, Forum des Halles, Paris.
1994
Autoportraits, Première Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine, Bamako, Mali.
Collections
Musée National d’Art Moderne/ Centre Pompidou, Paris
The Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, Cal, USA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA.
The Philadelphia Museumof Art, PA, USA.
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Edwin A Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS, USA.
The Newark Museumof Art, Newark, NJ, USA.
The Studio Museum, Harlem, NY.USA.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston TX.USA
Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, OH, USA
International Center of Photography, New York, NY, USA.
Awards
2001 Prince Claus Fund Award, Den Hague, The Netherlands.
2000 Dak’Art Firts prize for photography. Dakar, Senegal
1995 Afrique en Création, Paris.
Books
Collection photographies : Une histoire de la photographie à travers les collections du Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderneby Quentin Bajac and Clément Chéroux
Hardcover
Publisher: Editions du Centre Pompidou
Date: November 22, 2007
Language: French
ISBN-10: 2844263488
ISBN-13: 978-2844263483
Platform for Art: Art on the Undergroundby Alex Coles
Paperback, 160 pages
Publisher: Black Dog Publishing
Date: 29 November 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1906155062
ISBN-13: 978-1906155063
Samuel Fosso (Hardcover)by Guido Schlinkert and Maria Francesca Bonetti
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: 5 Continents Editions
Date: June 28, 2004
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8874391013
ISBN-13: 978-8874391011
Blinkby Editors of Phaidon Press
Hardcover: 440 pages
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Date: May 31, 2002
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0714841994
ISBN-13: 978-0714841991
Masqueradeby Rachel Kent
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1921034084
ISBN-13: 978-1921034084
L'aventure de la photo contemporaine de 1945 à nos jours de Louis Mesplé
Hardcover: 255 pages
Publisher: Editions du Chêne
Date: 22 November 2006
Language: French
ISBN-10: 284277602X
ISBN-13: 978-2842776022
Tati 50 x 50de Collectif
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Steidl
Date: 3 September 1998
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3882435631
ISBN-13: 978-3882435634