Omar Victor Diop | |
---|---|
Born | 1980 (age 43–44) Dakar, Senegal |
Nationality | Senegalese |
Known for | Photography |
Omar Victor Diop (born 1980) is a Senegalese photographer whose conceptually-rich work is exhibited around the world. [1] [2] He lives and works in Dakar and Paris, France.
Omar Victor Diop was born in Dakar, Senegal. He is the youngest of six children, and his parents valued education as a means to pursue opportunity. He and his siblings attended optimal schooling from a young age, which resulted in a career in finance and corporate communications. [2] [3] He studied at the ESCE International Business School in Paris before working at Ernst & Young as an analyst, and then with British American Tobacco in the African international relations department. [4]
After a year-long sabbatical from corporate life, Diop made a shift towards a career in the arts in 2010. [3] His debut project, Fashion 2112, The Future of Beauty, was a series of photographs which was shown at the Pan African Exhibition of the African Biennale of Photography in Bamako, Mali (2011). The success and recognition of this project resulted in Diop's attention to photography exclusively.
Though Diop began his career in communications, by 2010 he had moved into the highly active territory of fashion photography. Prior to this, he had experimented in landscape photography, and later worked for fashion lines Bantu Wax and Adama Paris, among others. By September 2013, he had produced 70 percent of the commercial advertising market in Dakar. [4] While he continues to work in the commercial field, his studio practice lies in the style of Fine Art portraiture; often self-portraiture. Diop uses his own body to restage historical events, encouraging "the viewer to question the narrative of history that we are traditionally taught and see Black people themselves as the agents of change." [5] He produces work in series, and, much like Malian photographer Seydou Keïta, continues in the tradition of African studio photography. [6]
Diop has released numerous series, including:
Diop has participated in numerous exhibitions internationally, including:
Diop's work is held in a number of public collections, including:
Omar Victor Diop is represented by the MAGNIN-A [18] gallery in Paris, and by Elaine Harris with AfricaLive Productions. [19]
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