Muscle Men

This is a photograph by Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou exhibited at LagosPhoto 2013

Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou (1965) is a photographer from Porto-Novo, Benin where he is currently living and working. His ongoing portraiture project features citizens of Porto-Novo and includes his friends, family members and studio customers. His work touches on themes such as tradition, generational differences and how those themes relate to contemporary social progress. Agbodjelou layers elements with bold colours, textures and patterns such as vibrantly designed Dutch imported textiles and flowers, which he then juxtaposes alongside other elements within the frame such as body builders. Agbodjelou is the founder and director of the first photographic school in Benin and is President of the Photographer’s Association of Porto-Novo. His work has been collected by the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) Jean Pigozzi in Geneva and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, among others.