Ekow Eshun – acclaimed writer, curator and author of ‘In the Black Fantastic’ and ‘Africa State of Mind’ – shares his top three picks from our photography list for Photo London 2023, including a powerful social history, and a 'mesmerising' ode to curiosity.
A social history of post-war Britain through the keen-eyed lens of its documentary photographers. This is a raw and vital book that chronicles the changing identity of the nation decade by decade and almost page by page. There are big themes in play here – race, class, gender, power. But also brilliantly observes moments of joy, mischief, desire, intimacy. All human life – or at least all British life – is here.
This is a strange, mesmerising and magical work. A trove of images pulled from the vast archive of the Public Domain Review, assembled into an unbroken sequence of images and associations that unfolds with the intuitive logic of dreams. A wonderful visual testament to the virtues of wonder and curiosity.
Samuel Fosso is one of the great masters of African portraiture. Since the 1970s, he’s crafted a unique oeuvre of self-portraiture, in which he styles himself in front of the camera as a range of popular icons, from Muhammad Ali and Chairman Mao to the first Black Pope. The most intriguing figure in all this is Fosso himself – a trickster, a conjurer, a ceaselessly imaginative visual artist.