Samuel Fosso

(Kumba, Cameroon, 1962 - )

Africa, Cameroonian

Samuel Fosso spent the first four years of his life unable to move his arms or legs. His mysterious paralysis was cured by his grandfather, the village chief and healer. Having lived in Nigeria from 1965 to 1972, Fosso fled the country in the wake of the Biafran War with his uncle and settled in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. He opened his own photography studio at the age of thirteen and three years later began making self-portraits to send to his grandmother. Fosso’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions internationally including the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2005), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2006), and the Studio Museum Harlem, New York (2004). He had a solo exhibition at the Calcografia, Rome (2004). He is the recipient of the Akron Art Museum 2006 Knight Purchase Award for Photographic Media.

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