ABOUT RICHARD LOKIDEN WANI
Born October 10th 1964 at the Uganda-Kenya border. His mother is from Uganda and his father from South Sudan. At four years old, Richard leaves with his father and stay with im in Kampala until 1979. He lives now in Juba, the South Sudan capital. He became a photographer in 1998. As many south Sudan photographers, he was trained by american & norvegians evangelists very activ in this area since war began. Richard starts his carrier in western NGO’s environment. He takes portraits of christian sisters & brothers around Juba’s Churchs, untouchable buildings as erected since the war and inhabited by Western. Its mission of evangelization becomes a job over the portraits in the bush, more away from the city. Too poor to invest in a studio, he walks in camera over the shoulder. His clients ask him a portrait on the track, in front of their house, solo, couples, families, then buy the print, or not. He photographs his models always standing, in the setting of the meeting, often with flash in daylight. Beyond the real charisma of Richard, and his evangelist faith, inducing a fraternal behavior back, we guess something else is going on than just pose, the photographed subject seems almost to confide to a friend. He is an optimist and his portraits are all self-portraits. The observation in serial organization of his portraits reveals both the complexity of the country and simultaneously, timeless sweetness seems to betray the dream of peace and carelessness of three generations.
EXHIBITIONS
“Photographie Soudanaise” / Usine Springcourt / Paris /France / 2012
“Photographies Soudanaises” / Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière / Paris / 2011
“Lumières Soudanaises” / Flatteurville / Paris / France 2011
Accra / Ghana / 2009
Centrale Électrique / Brussell / Belgium / 2007
Confluences / Paris / France / 2007
Gaborone / Ghana / 2006
A.F.D / Paris / France / 2006
Africultures / Paris / France / 2005
Bamako Fest / Mali / 2005
COLLECTIONS
Agence Française de Développement, Paris, France 2006
IMAGES
