FINALIST ELLIPSE PRIZE 2021
Ismaël Mahamadou Laouali
Born in Niamey, Niger, in 1995, Ismaël Mahamadou Laouali is a photographer and former professional dancer.
Ismaël Mahamadou finalist of the ellipse prize dedicated to Senegal
Ismaël Mahamadou Laouali discovered photography in 2019 Fascinated by the medium, he trained himself as a self-taught photographer and made a name for himself with a quirky, catchy mobile studio at parties in Niamey.
He began with commissioned work before developing a more personal style when he arrived in Dakar in November 2019. His favorite themes are identity, invisible people in society and man in his environment. His work is part of a more general project to reappropriate and enhance African identity, as well as a process of change and transmission that highlights the issues of our time.
Photography as an emotional refuge
Through his self-portraits, the artist highlights the complex feeling mixing melancholy, nostalgia and hope felt when we leave our country for another one The artist says he feels “locked up”, especially during the lockdown in 2020, which forced him to stay at home, thinking about the times he spent in his native country.
He then took refuge behind his computer, working on the only material available to him: himself. In his work, the artist also calls on Africans to free themselves, to refuse borders, both moral and physical. For him, “circulation” is the key word of the 21st century, as it is also the word that characterized historic African cultures.
