Self Portrait (Love is Tenderness)

© Samuel Fosso

Self Portrait (Love is Tenderness)

Currently not on view

Self Portrait (Love is Tenderness),

1977, printed 2003

Samuel Fosso, born 1962, Kumba, Cameroon; active Bangui, Central African Republic; Aba, Nigeria; and Paris, France
2003-243
Samuel Fosso’s Studio Photo Nationale, located in Bangui, Central African Republic, specialized in passport, portrait, and wedding photography, promising clients that they would be "beautiful, elegant, and easy to recognize." Hating to waste an unfinished roll of film, Fosso often would photograph himself at the end of the day, sending the prints to his mother in Nigeria. His self-portraits are deeply linked to the photographs of his clients; both types depict a theatrical space in which the sitters reinvent themselves freely. In this tightly cropped photograph, the teenage photographer poses holding paper bouquets in his studio, whose small stage and curtain are barely visible.
View full record

More About This Object

Artist Conversation: Samuel Fosso

Information

Title
Self Portrait (Love is Tenderness)
Dates

1977, printed 2003

Maker
Samuel Fosso
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 46.7 x 46.6 cm (18 3/8 x 18 3/8 in.) sheet: 65 x 50.6 cm (25 9/16 x 19 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, anonymous gift
Object Number
2003-243
Place Made

Africa, Central African Republic, Bangui

Inscription
Inscribed/signed in ink, verso center: 2//12 1977//2003-09 / Samuel Fosso
Culture
Cameroonian
Type
photographs, black-and-white photographs, gelatin silver prints
Techniques
gelatin silver process
Subject
flowers (plants), boys, studio portraits, self-portraits

Self Portrait (L'Amour c'est la tendresse)

IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more.

Open API URL

Our API is generally designed to provide programmatic access to the Museum's collections data for applications that require regular updates and/or the ability to dynamically query and filter the data via the endpoints provided.

Share your feedback with us

The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.

Explore More

Holidays at the Museum

Princeton Collects

Mosaic Restaurant