Omar Victor Diop developed an interest in photography and design as a means to capture the diversity of modern African societies and cultures. In addition to his more conceptual studio portraits, Diop’s body of work includes fashion and advertising photography, which he often integrates with other forms, such as costume design and fashion styling. Diop reconfigures established portraiture methods introduced by resident African portraitists such as Malick Sidibé, through producing intelligent ‘re-castings’ of subjects from portraits of influential African migrants, alongside wider references to art historical figures, popular culture and cult cinema. His peripatetic project Le Studio des Vanités has been operated and exhibited in Paris, Malaga and Dakar, as part of Dak’Art, the 11th Biennial of Contemporary African Art in Dakar (2014). On this occasion at the Institut Français du Sénégal in Dakar, Diop initiated an ‘open house’ session where the public were invited to watch him work. He is currently holding his first solo show in London: Omar Victor Diop: Liberty/Diaspora at Autograph.