Works by Saïdou Dicko are presented in the group show “The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives In Photographic Portraiture From Africa” at Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University New York, USA.
From 19th-century studio practice through the independence era of the 1950s and 1960s, African photography has best been known for modes of portraiture that crystallize subjects’ identities and social milieus. Even contemporary art photographs are often interpreted as windows into African lives, whether actual or theatricalized. This exhibition reconsiders African contemporary photographic portraiture by presenting the work of four artists whose concerns range beyond depicting social identity. Through his work, Saïdou Dicko captures the shadow silhouettes of individuals on sunlit streets —a strategy that references photographic processes and unsettles portrait conventions, while still conveying subjects’ expressivity.