UNITED STATES – LOS ANGELES
The visual imagery of this artist photographer, based in California, transports us into her inner and imaginary worlds, oscillating between emotion and colour, movement and performance.
“Creation must be expensive and limitless, versatile and endless, all at once,” boldly states Djeneba Aduayom on Büro, an artistic agency founded by Annika Vogt that represents her. This former professional dancer has transitioned into an exceptional photographer, exploring the parallels between reality and fantasy. From her Southern California base, she draws upon her French, Italian, and African cultural heritage to create metaphorical and imaginary universes where emotion competes with abstraction, movement, and performance. For this empathetic virtuoso, the human experience is more universal and unifying than individuals and trivial. These dualities juxtapose in her various series. Starting with “Atmospheric Perspective,” she offers her poetic and traumatic vision of how human beings transform the health of the planet. “As our collective actions and inactions continue to destroy our world and resources, the nature of the reality we are living in today is brutal,” she explains. “Here, I wonder what will remain of us once we are gone – mere installations that could bear witness to our past presence. Or perhaps, nothing at all – Only a burnt planet haunted by distant memories and illusions?“
COMBINING TECHNIQUES AND PERSPECTIVES
With sensitivity, Djeneba Aduayom always delves into human perspectives, merging approaches and viewpoints between her subjects and her feelings. For “Reflected Reveries,” she provides an abstract view of the identification process as a unique human being, all while blending analogue techniques. This project reflects the uniqueness of her subjects intertwined with her own, integrating conscious and subconscious states. Mixing is also at play in “Mixed Media,” where she continues to express her art through different mediums. With “Nyang,” she chooses to highlight the inspiration she derives from certain individuals through their soul and inner beauty. As for “Nya,” it’s a fashion story she created for The Cut magazine, revealing her visual poetry through the freedom of movement. This series is part of her editorial commissions that add to her pedigree. An example is “The 1619 Project” for The New York Times, aiming to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the centre of the narrative of the United States. Or her portraits for Time, her dance and music video clips, and the myriad of celebrities she has captured for Vogue, V, Billboard, Departures, including Zendaya, Lady Gaga, Julianne Moore, Ruth Negga, and many others.
Nathalie Dassa