Untitled
- Artist: Samuel Fosso
- Date: 1979
- Medium: Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
- Dimensions: image: 152 x 149 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Untitled” by Samuel Fosso, a 1979 gelatin silver photograph on paper. The small print, about 152 × 149 mm, shows a striking self‑portrait that blurs the line between studio and everyday space. Fosso, a Nigerian photographer born in 1958, often uses his own image to probe cultural identity, ethnicity, and the politics of representation. In this work he stages himself in a modest, domestic setting—behind a curtain, surrounded by familiar furnishings—yet the composition feels almost like a formal portrait, giving the viewer both intimacy and distance. The gelatin silver gives the image a soft, nostalgic tonality that contrasts with the contemporary themes he explores. It sits among other pieces in the Tate Modern’s “Performer and Participant” display, highlighting Fosso’s role as both photographer and performer who invites the viewer into his world.
See it in person
Untitled is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
