Sanlé Sory x Kyle Weeks: Intersections of African Youth

For its opening show, Galerie Gomis presents an intergenerational celebration of the creativity and style of African youth. The photographic works of Sanlé Sory (b. 1943, Burkina Faso) and Kyle Weeks (b. 1992, Namibia) stretch beyond their respective eras to capture the timelessness of African elegance.

Sory’s exuberant portraits immortalised his subjects’ embrace of enjoyment and modernity as his nation gained independence in 1960 and continued to flourish into the 1970s. Similarly, Weeks, inspired by masters such as Sory, has dedicated his practice to honouring the energy and agency of young people across the continent, especially in Ghana.

Times and technologies have changed. Nevertheless then, as now, negative and ahistorical representations of Africa have pervaded in mainstream media. These two artists find common ground not only in their ability to create uplifting images brimming with sartorial flair but also in their commitment to promoting everyday Africa in a positive and gentle light.

Galerie Gomis

Born into a Senegalese family in the northern districts of Marseille, Marie Gomis-Trezise became France’s first Black A&R at a major record company. She discovered her love for photography while shaping her artists’ sound and image, which served as the foundation for her vision to bring visibility to a new wave of photographers from the African diaspora and the global South. She launched Galerie Number 8 in 2016 as a ground-breaking online platform helping to launch the careers of major talents at art fairs and festivals around the world. And in 2020 she joined Nataal magazine as creative director.

Now it’s time for a new chapter with the opening of Galerie Gomis as a physical space in the heart of Brussels. This name change reflects Marie’s personal commitment to nurturing the most revolutionary lens-based artists and her own professional evolution in step with the roster she represents.

The choice of the colour purple is an allusion to the rain of the same name, symbolising the hidden aspects of our identities. It underscores the belief that our individuality transcends our race, sexual orientation or socio-economic background. What truly matters is embracing our differences, as they represent the most profound diaspora in the history of humanity.

About Sanlé Sory

Sanlé Sory (b. 1943; Nianiagara, Burkina Faso) opened his studio, Volta Photo, in 1960, the same year his country (then called Upper Volta) began its transition to independence. He worked as regional reporter, event photographer and record sleeve illustrator but has become best known as Bobo-Dioulasso's finest studio photographer. His use of painted backdrops, props and accessories allowed his subjects, mainly Fula, Malian and Voltaic youths, to have fun and “make the picture their own”. His works are now in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; North Carolina Museum of Art; RISD Museum and the Tang Museum at Skidmore College.

About Kyle Weeks

Kyle Weeks (b. 1992, Namibia) studied at Stellenbosch Academy, began his career in Cape Town and is currently based in Amsterdam. Subverting photography’s normative conventions, upending the historical power dynamics of picture-taking, and honouring the authenticity of his subjects represent key aspects of his practice. A recipient of the Magnum Prize in 2016, and named amongst The British Journal of Photography’s Ones to Watch in 2019, Weeks has also exhibited at art fairs such as 1-54 and Photo London, and his images have appeared in publications including i-D, Dazed, M le Monde and Self Service. In 2023 he published his first photo book, Good News, a culmination of six years shooting Ghana’s fluid youth culture.