25/02/2025
Photobook conversation with Akinbode Akinbiyi and Eva Diallo
During the 2024 Bamako Encounters, African Biennale for Photography, director of Photo:, John Fleetwood moderated a conversation between photographers Akinbode Akinbiyi and Eva Diallo about recent publications. They explored themes of urban documentation, cultural memory, and the evolving language of photography in African contexts.
Akinbode Akibiyi’s publication, Being Seeing Wandering was published by Spector Books, 2024
Eva Diallo’s publciation Bolol was published by Editions Cécile Fakhoury with the support from the Eyes Wide Open First Book Grants, 2024.
The Conversation
The dialogue touched upon the role of the photographer as witness and interpreter, the importance of time and patience in image-making, and the challenges of representing rapidly changing urban landscapes.
The conversation brought together two distinct generational perspectives: Akinbiyi's decades-long exploration of urban spaces and Diallo's recent examination of migration narratives. Their exchange highlighted how personal histories inform photographic practice, with Akinbiyi's wanderings through mega-cities contrasting with Diallo's focused investigation of migration routes and family histories.
Key themes emerged around the significance of walking as a photographic practice, the relationship between photographer and subject, and the role of photography in preserving and questioning cultural memory. Both photographers shared insights into their methodologies and the philosophical underpinnings of their work, offering attendees a rare glimpse into their creative processes.
About the Speakers
Akinbode Akinbiyi
Born in 1946 in the UK, of Nigerian descent, Akinbode Akinbiyi is a significant voice in photography. Based in Berlin, his work as a "wanderer" through the world's mega-cities has created an visual archive of urban life and transformation. He has spent more than four decades navigating through a myriad of cities such as Bamako, Berlin, Cairo, Chicago, Dakar, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, and Lagos. Cumulatively his work has become a celebration of the power of the ordinary and a transcendental connection to humanity at large. Akinbiyi's black-and-white photographs capture the subtle rhythms and unconscious choreography of city life, particularly in particual, African metropolises. His patient, observant approach to street photography has influenced generations of photographers, earning him recognition as both an artist and a mentor.
Eva Diallo
Born in 1996, Eva Diallo is a Senegalo-Swiss photographer whose work addresses themes of migration and identity. After graduating from the School of Applied Arts in Vevey, Switzerland in 2018, she embarked on her first documentary project focusing on refugee camps in southern Italy – an experience that would shape her future trajectory. Deeply moved by migration narratives between Africa and Europe, which resonate with her own family history, Diallo relocated to Senegal, her mother's homeland. Her ongoing project "Bolol," initiated in 2019, has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries. This multi-chapter work traces migration routes from Senegal to southern Italy, with recent expansions into Mali and Burkina Faso, exemplifying her commitment to documenting contemporary African narratives.
