Samuel Fosso examines African identities and histories through costume and impersonation, emphasizing self-representation as a locus of empowerment. Since the early 1970s, Fosso has explored archetypal figures from Africa and beyond, embodying characters in varied series in which the artist constructs and deconstructs personae both imagined and historical. In this way, the artist both celebrates and questions notions of African identity and takes an active stance in the dynamics of viewership on a global stage.

His work has been featured in landmark exhibitions including In/Sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present; The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945 to 1994; Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent; and Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity, presented by The Walther Collection.

Fosso’s photographs are held in an extensive number of international collections. These include Musée National d’Art Moderne at Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris; Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and The Walther Collection, among many others across Europe, Africa, and North America.

In 1994, Fosso was awarded 1st Prize at the Rencontres de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali, which launched his career internationally. The artist has since been awarded numerous prizes and accolades, such as the Prix Afrique en Creations in 1995, the First Prize for photography at the Dak’Art Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain, Dakar, Senegal in 2000, and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2023. Fosso lives and works between Bangui, Central African Republic and Paris, France.