Day 8 of the 28 Days of Black Liberation 2024 series
OMAR DIOP is a Senegalese photographer whose work honors Black culture and the history of resistance. His first career was in finance, but after picking up street photography as a side hobby, he rediscovered his love of art and left his job to pursue his passion.
Since then, he has dived into more conceptual works, crafting careful pieces that are simultaneously vivid, contemplative, and dreamlike. A recurring theme in his work is the connection between history and the present moment — we exist in the past, and the past exists in our present.
Diop’s inspirations are eclectic, which is perhaps most embodied in his series PROJECT DIASPORA. In this series, Diop creates self-portraits that are modeled after artworks made by 15th to 19th century European artists that featured prominent African emigres. The figures in Diop’s work have football imagery incorporated, a reference to the way prominent Africans today, such as footballers, are simultaneously idolized and excluded.
His series LIBERTY recreates defining images from Black history. The pieces cut across time and space, connecting Black struggles from across continents and centuries. Like in PROJECT DIASPORA, Diop uses self-portraiture as a vehicle to convey the message he intends to tell: “For me, it emphasizes the fact that I could have been one of them.“
ALLEGORIA is “a love letter to all living things on this precious piece of rock called Mother Earth.” Diop surrounds himself with flora and fauna, in compositions inspired by various religious artwork from across cultures. ALLEGORIA interrogates what we view as holy and sacred, uplifting the natural world and Black bodies in a way that is deeply loving.
You can follow Omar Victor Diop’s evolving career on Instagram @omar_viktor
Omar’s website: https://www.omarvictor.com
https://www.fotografiska.com/tallinn/en/naitused/omar-victor-diop/