Lina Iris Viktor

Lina Iris Viktor was born in 1986 in Virginia, United States and raised in London, United Kingdom to Liberian parents who flew out of their homeland in 1980 – during the Liberian civil war. She traveled extensively in her youth also living in Johannesburg, South Africa for many years. Viktor uses a palette of blue, black, white, and 24-karat gold to create an imagined world of sumptuous minimalism by merging photography, performance, and abstract painting. Her distinctive style mixes complex patterns with dazzling gold symbols and powerful self-portraiture. Her work contains narratives of cultural heritage and the African diaspora, drawing on an array of ancient cosmologies and artistic traditions. In the series The Dark Continent (2016), Viktor presents herself as a sensual goddess, an intimidating empress, a fierce queen, and so much more. Instead of representing absence or void, life springs forth from blackness, and the nuanced, intense dark tones take on the uncanny richness and depth of the gold.

Tony Gum

Tony Gum was born in 1995 in the township of KwaLanga, Cape Town, South Africa. She is completing her study in photography and filmmaking at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Gum quickly developed an interest in self-representation to address issues such as taboos and prejudice as well as racial and sexual equality. Her body of work is a celebration of her culture and her generation, using props, costumes and poses reminiscent of traditional African studio photography. In 2015, Gum garnered most attention with the Black Coca series, which draws on Pop Art imagery to create identities that she interweaves with the iconic Coca-Cola brand. Through the power of her visuals, she aims to show a pathway to embracing the West while remaining true and proud of one’s heritage. In 2017, Gum had her first solo exhibition entitled Ode to She, which she defines as “a letter to self, a poem and song, a calling”. The series depicts what it means to be a Xhosa woman, drawing on intonjane – a tradition where a young girl evolves physically and spiritually through the many stages of her native culture.

Jenevieve Aken

Jenevieve Aken was born in 1989 in the small village of Ikom Aluk in Cross River State, Nigeria. She was early interested to pursue a career in music but put that aside to work as a model. Having recognized the harsh realities of women in the modeling industry, she decided to start a career in photography. Her work focuses on social documentary, urban representation and often adopts self-portraiture in her artistic practice. Aken explores her personal experiences and contemporary social issues faced by African women in certain tribal societies. In The Masked Woman (2014) series, she represents the self-fulfillment of women without the stigmatized predominant views of men in a Nigerian culture. She wanted to inspire Nigerian women to practice their freedom regardless of external stereotypes. With the Great Expectations (2016) series, she illustrates the social pressures on African women to get married, since even the most successful ones can feel insecure until they are married.

Omar Victor Diop

Omar Victor Diop was born in 1980 in Dakar, Senegal. He developed an interest for photography and fashion design since his early days. His images capture the lifestyle and diversity of people living in Africa. In 2012, Diop committed to work exclusively in photography after a career in corporate communications, following the success of early conceptual projects. With a strong influence from the traditional African portraitists, his work blends photography with other art forms such as costume design and creative writing. Having photographed different subjects in previous series, Diop turned the camera to himself to explore issue of identity and history. In the Diaspora (2014) series, he portrayed notable Africans living in modern European society, defining the singular destinies of travellers and immigrants. He used football references to show the link between past and present, while questioning the position of African today.