As a young football player in Bamako, Mohamed Camara came in contact with the photography by a coincidence. It turned out that he had a very special ability and talent to see and highlight details and situations in every day’s life. Using a simple technique, he took pictures with a small pocket camera in close relationship to his surroundings, conveying situations and moods in a very personal way. His first series of photographs Chambres Maliennes attracted much attention for their sensitive and poetic expressions. They were shown among other places at the Biennale The Bamako Encounters (2003) and at Tate Modern in London (2004). Since then, his photographs have been shown worldwide in many different contexts.
At 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London Gallery Flach presents photographs from the series Certains Matins, Les Maliens de Paris and Souvernirs. The photographs are selected on the basis of Camara’s distinctive, poetic and playful imagery. The photographies also reflect Camara’s own journey through the years between Bamako and Paris. The series Les Maliens de Paris and Souvenirs depict environments and situations from both places with a wistful, sometimes almost melancholic gaze in both directions. Longing and yearning is something we all experience. In the photographies of Mohamed Camra, these experiences are mediated by a strong sense of presence and with a tender eye for subtle, beautiful and humorous details.
His photographs have been shown worldwide. He has participated in the biennale The Bamako Encounters (2003, 2007, 2009) and was included in the traveling exhibition Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, curated by Okwui Enwezor (New York, Toronto, Amsterdam), 2006 – 2008. He has participated in a numerous other group exhibitions and solo presentations, lately in the exhibition When there is Hope, 2015 (Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany), Paris Photos (2011), The New Normal (2008- 2009), at Galere Pierre brulle and La Maison Européene de la Photographie in Paris, Galleri Flach, Brunåkra konsthall and Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden.Mohamed Camara’s works are included, among others, in the Collection Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Mac/ Val Musée d’art contemporaine du Val-de-Marne, Natioanl Musée d’Art Modern, Centre Georges Pompidou, Européene Maison de la Photographie, Paris and the Swedish Art Council.
