Léonard Pongo and Nii Obodai join Julie Bonzon as Co-Directors of the Photographic Collective

 

Léonard Pongo and Nii Obodai join Julie Bonzon as Co-Directors of The Photographic Collective, bringing their deep understanding of the industry's evolving landscape, passion for fostering collaboration, and visionary leadership to the TPC community. Léonard and Nii are widely recognized for their significant contributions to the industry and unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of creativity on the continent and beyond. Together, they will drive the TPC mission to foster a vibrant, supportive, and talented community that amplifies the voices of TPC artists.

 

Past projects

 
 
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Click here for further information

 

The exhibition Presence: Five Contemporary African Photographers explores the practice of five artists working in South Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Encompassing social documentary, intimate portraits, still life and ethereal landscapes, their works offer vivid insights into some of the key narratives shaping African photography today.

 
 
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Foreign Agent and The Photographic Collective are proud to present Strangely Familiar, Léonard Pongo’s first solo exhibition in Switzerland. This unique and poetic display compiles a selection of works from his acclaimed series ‘The Uncanny’ (2011-2017) and ‘Primordial Earth’ (2017- ongoing).

 
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Click here for more information

The Photographic Collective is pleased to announce its collaboration with Foreign Agent. Foreign Agent is a contemporary art gallery in Lausanne, Switzerland, showcasing emerging and confirmed contemporary artists and designers from Africa and the diaspora. ⠀

 
Discover the artists here!

Discover the artists here!

The Photographic Collective at LagosPhoto Festival 2020. 14 artists from the Collective explore the notion of ‘home’.

 
 
The Photographic Collective @ 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair

The Photographic Collective @ 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair

Discover the list of artists here

The Photographic Collective at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Discover views from the exhibition featuring the work of 10 artists from the Collective, interviews and articles in both English and French.

 
 
Our Instagram page is now live!

Our Instagram page is now live!

 
 
 
‘City Entrapped’ by Amina Kadous⠀⠀ ⠀ Cairo, a city that is in constant change, yet remains the same… The dust, the falling walls, the cracked paint on wooden doors, the rustic metals, and the aged texture. Cairo is a city trapped i
‘A crack in the Memory of my Memory' by Amina Kadous⠀ ⠀ I trespass through the remnants of my past. Through the layers of time, the ashes and cracks of the walls crumble over me, creating wounds in walls and wounds inside of me. I am walking on
The Photographic Collective is proud to present the work of Amina Kadous 💙⠀⠀ ⠀ If My Grandfather Had Written Me A Letter⠀ ⠀ 'If My Grandfather Had Written Me A Letter' is an exhibition about the beauty of communication through the ephemeral fabrics
In her recent exhibition ‘Cuttings 1820 - 2020’, Pippa Hetherington explores notions of collective memory, collaboration and healing. ⠀ ⠀ ‘Cuttings 1820 - 2020’ is constructed around themes of family, cultural memory, displace
In the extract below, visual artist Pippa Hetherington presents her series 'Slides'.⠀ ⠀ Glass slides made from photographic negatives, thread and blood, these pieces probe feelings about familial loss. Working with thread to attach oneself to memory,
The Photographic Collective is proud to present the work of Pippa Hetherington 💙⠀⠀ ⠀ The Rest is Memory⠀ ⠀ A tribute to grief, loss and mourning, woven around family, history, displacement and memory. Examining heritage, kin and remembrance, this wo
Godelive Kasangati Kabena was first a painter before becoming a photographer. Here, we present a selection of work produced during her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa. In this series of paintings, Kasangati explores notions of life an
In the extract below, Godelive Kasangati Kabena presents 'Étrangère', a series of self-portraits revisiting her family story. ⠀ ⠀ EN: This project focuses on identity, my starting point being an exploration of my past and my present as
The Photographic Collective is proud to present the work of Godelive Kasangati Kabena 💙⠀ ⠀ Malikia⠀ ⠀ 'Malikia' means 'Queen' in Swahili. All my childhood, I had people who made decisions for me. Growing up, I put myself in the shoes of an imaginar
The Photographic Collective presents a conversation between artists and photographers Ibrahim Ahmed and Laura El-Tantawy.⠀ ⠀ In this exchange, Ahmed and El-Tantawy discuss their respective work 'quickly but carefully cross to the other side' and 'In
A conversation between photographers Maheder Haileselassie and Jabulani Dhlamini about their respective series ‘Between yesterday and tomorrow’ and ‘Recaptured’ is now available on our website (link in bio). ⠀ ⠀ In this exchan
The Photographic Collective aspires to promote dialogue on photography, its conditions and implications, between lens-based artists and photographers working in Africa. Recorded on Zoom, the conversations are transcribed and published on The Photogra
In the extracts below, Ibrahim Ahmed discusses his recent series ‘quickly but carefully cross to the other side’. This work is the fourth iteration which continues from the project ‘burn what needs to be burned’, an ongoing in
A section of the work compiled under the title 'burn what needs to be burned' presents Ibrahim Ahmed photographed in a photography studio in Ard El Lewa and his own studio. In these images, Ahmed adopts a range of poses borrowed from Roman-Greco and
The Photographic Collective is proud to present the work of Ibrahim Ahmed 💙⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ In 'burn what needs to be burned', Ibrahim Ahmed asks: 'What narrative do societies create about men, and what does this imply? What oppressive systems of power are bei
´Joburg (Johannesburg) is such a hard place, you know, for people who are not from the city. I am just drawn to the small things that make the city beautiful, the people that move through the city, the colours, the buildings. There is something
‘What draws me to the people I photograph is how they represent themselves, how they go about their day, how they dress up, for all of them it’s bold, whether it’s the hair, whether it’s the clothing. I think there is an eleme
The Photographic Collective is proud to present the work of Nonzuzo Gxekwa 💙⠀ ⠀ Nonzuzo Gxekwa (b. 1981) is a self-taught photographer from Ladysmith, KwaZulu Natal. Her approach to photography favours the everyday over the spectacular; sharing inte
Photographer and visual artist Maheder Haileselassie writes about her enigmatic series 'The Sound of The Night', extracts below: ⠀ ⠀ 'The Sound of the Night' is a collection of photographs where I envision a place for “feeling” in photogr