Writing at
the Intersection
Curatorial essays, artist spotlights, market analysis, and cultural commentary by Daffa Konate and invited writers. Published monthly.
of Memory
in West African
Photography
In the years following independence, the photographic archive in many West African countries did not survive the transition intact. Files were moved, mislabelled, and in some cases deliberately destroyed. What we call "the historical record" of post-colonial West Africa is, in reality, a highly curated selection — and its curation was rarely done by African hands.
The photographers working across Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria today are not simply documenting the present. They are, often consciously, building a visual archive that the past failed to produce.
"Every image made today is also a refusal — a refusal to allow the visual archive of this continent to remain in other hands."
Daffa writes every one.
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