Bobson Sukhdeo Mohanlall

Bobson Sukhdeo Mohanlall was born in 1928 in Durban, South Africa. In 1961, Mohanlall founded his own studio and was among the first African studio photographers to work in color. Though rapidly earning widespread acclaim, he mainly catered to a Zulu clientele who would pose in traditional beadwork and dress. On a patterned floor, before a wall of pleated red curtains, Mohanlall’s clients look uneasy, expectant, or delighted. The resulting pictures would often double as postcards that could be sent to far-flung relatives and friends. Many of the clients lived between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, the major cities of the KwaZulu-Natal province. Today, the art historical value of Mohanlall’s work has become apparent since it is a unique record of how Zulu traditional style coexisted with foreign urban style. Mohanlall’s photographs have been collected and exhibited locally and internationally as well as published in some books.

Philip Kwame Apagya

Philip Kwame Apagya was born in 1958 in Sekondi, Ghana. He learned photography in his father’s studio during his youth before studying photojournalism in Accra. In 1982, Apagya opened his own commercial studio in Shama, a coastal town of Ghana, where he produces color portraits for a local clientele and larger versions for exhibition. An avid fan of paintings, Apagya uses backdrops painted by himself and his assistant. They represent business or domestic interiors or outdoor urban scenes that allow his clients to be part of the illusion the time of the photo shoot. In fact, the portraits try to present their subjects as they wish to be seen. Apagya’s photographs accomplish this with creativity and a historical perspective that combines fantasies of Western lifestyle with references to the African past. He frequently repaints his backdrops to keep up with fashion trends and build customer loyalty. Apagya has participated in various exhibitions worldwide and some of his photographs are part of private collections.