Amid the stone-paved alleyways and bustling nightlife of the ‘Brickyard’ district in Yaoundé, one of the great African masters of photography operated his studio in Cameroon’s capital for more than fifty-seven years. Although he lost his sight to cataracts in 2007, Michel Kameni (c.1935-2020) claimed to remember details about each and every one of the more than 120,000 photographs he made over the years. This depth of understanding is revealed in his extraordinarily sensitive portraits. 

From its founding in 1963, Kameni’s studio attracted a true cross-section of society—men and women of power along with the burgeoning middle class, Christians and Muslims alike, from farmers to businesspeople. Brimming with optimism and full of humor, his pictures show shifting tastes in fashion and material possessions, deep-seated changes in family structure and gender roles, and the proud entry of women into the workforce. Seen together, they affirm the humanity and dynamism of postcolonial Africa, the extraordinary promise of newly independent Cameroon, and the hopes and dreams of its residents.

Made up entirely of unique vintage prints selected from the Kameni archive, this small exhibition shows the artist’s remarkable sensitivity as a portraitist as well as his technical virtuosity. Rich in educational possibilities, it engages themes of family, gender, personal identity, social structure, ethnicity, fashion, consumerism, colonialism and its aftermath, and West African history and culture.

All works courtesy Solander Collection