• About
  • News
  • Friends
  • Applications
  • Contacts
Buy limited edition bags
  • London
    • Home
    • Artists
    • Exhibitors
    • 1-54 Forum
    • Partners
    • Press
    • Archive
  • New York
    • Home
    • Artists
    • Exhibitors
    • Press
    • Archive
  • Marrakech
    • Home
    • Press
    • Archive
  • Paris
    • Home
    • Artists
    • Exhibitors
    • 1-54 Forum
    • Partners
    • Press
  • Artists
  • Exhibitors
  • Press
  • Archive
Menu

Collector’s choice | Abidjan in the 1970’s: Paul Kodjo photographs the Ivorian Miracle

Paul Kodjo, Excerpt from the photo novel Perdue et Retrouvee, 1974, Black and white silver print, 50 x 60cm. Courtesy Isabel S. Wilcox Collection  

Paul Kodjo’s black and white photographs seen in the US for the first time were saved from near oblivion by photographer Ananias Léki Dago’s dedication to restore Kodjo’s archive. Formally trained in photography and cinematography in Abidjan, Paris, and a correspondence course at the New York Institute of Photography Kodjo pushed the boundaries of African traditional studio photography. With cinematic flair, Kodjo photographed his subjects outside of the studio in staged modern domestic interiors, as well as in the streets of Abidjan where a dialogue between model and space contributed to an expression of Ivorian pride. He turned to the tradition of the photo-romans that were published in the national periodical Ivoire Dimanche with wide exposure. Kodjo’s photographs give a unique opportunity to witness the societal context of the economic boom of the early post-independence years. His images echo the shifting social and familial dynamics as well as the renewal of the urban landscape shaped by modernist design and architecture.

1-54 TALK: The Cinematic Eye of West African photographer Paul Kodjo
Saturday 4 May, 6:30 – 7:30pm
1-54 FORUM Room, Industria

Register here

Collection Isabel S. Wilcox
happeningafrica@gmail.com
www.happeningafrica.com

Selected Exhibitors

Luce Gallery

espace d’art contemporain 14N 61W

Retro Africa

Galerie Anne de Villepoix

Nuweland

Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery

Galerie 127

AFRONOVA GALLERY

1-54 EXHIBITORS
  • 50 Golborne
  • Afikaris
  • Afriart Gallery
  • AFRONOVA GALLERY
  • Danziger Gallery
  • EBONY/CURATED
  • espace d’art contemporain 14N 61W
  • Fridman Gallery
  • Galerie 127
  • Galerie Anne de Villepoix
  • Galerie Atiss Dakar
  • Galerie Ernst Hilger
  • Hafez Gallery
  • Jack Bell Gallery
  • Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery
  • LatchKey Gallery
  • Luce Gallery
  • NIL GALLERY
  • Nuweland
  • October Gallery
  • OOA
  • Retro Africa
  • Sulger-Buel Gallery
  • The Gallery of Everything
  • Wilde Gallery

Sign up to our Newsletter

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Artsy
Privacy Policy

Sign up to our Newsletter