only paper moons

Delphine Diaw Diallo  |  Photographer

I first stumbled upon French-Senegalese photographer and mixed media artist Delphine Diaw Diallo's work while voraciously browsing the internet in search of rising African artists. Having been hailed as one of thirty "new and emerging artists to watch out for" by the Photo District News, Diallo easily fit the bill. Her work is magnetic, humanistic, and quite reminiscent to that of the late great Gordon Parks, renowned for his social historian artistic vision. Her connection with each one of her subjects is evident throughout her work and imbues it with a sense of intimacy. Diallo on her subjects,

I always thought about photography as a painter. I’m seeing the shape and the structure before shooting. I want to make them proud of who they are. I’m creating my own myths. They all have great stories.

Her willingness to experiment by incoporating mixed media into her artwork, imaginably an outcome of her trained background in graphic design, adds a playful and distinctive element to her portraits. I am deeply fascinated by Diallo's mode of story telling and exploration of cultural identity through portraiture and mixed media and I am looking forward to watching her body of work grow. 

portraiture photo series

mixed media photo series

Source: daphnediallodiaw