The Brightest Black

International Mon 29-11-2010

The Brightest Black
By Osei G Kofi | AfricanColours.com

I couldn’t help pasting a big grin on my face when I came across the 26th edition of DAMn, the arty quarterly on contemporary culture published by the DAMnation outfit of Brussels at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

A Moshi Youth by Viviane Sassen | Cover of DAMn Quarterly

I just had to grab a copy - even at 14 euros tax free, which was quite steep for a medium-sized semi-glossy. Rarely does one come across an European quality magazine that had an arresting African emblazoned on its front cover. Unless it was of the National Geographic or an anthropologic travelogue sort of thing; in which case, the cover image would invariably be the Gorillas in the Mist kind, or rebels brandishing AK-47s, or a troupe of prancing Maasai on a Kilimanjaro backdrop, a pot-bellied kwashiokored kid….

In Moshi by Viviane Sassen | DAMn Quarterly Magazine

The DAMn cover was classy and modern-flash, framing a handsome Tanzanian youth, whose cool-cat mien bored straight into you; a self-confident gaze uncommon in settings of this kind.

The last time I came across such an edifying magazine cover in the west was many moons ago when Red Herring showcased Ayisi Makatiani, the male half of the two young Kenyans who founded African Online dot com, and also when Forbes had a beaming Patrice Motsepe, the corporate titan and richest black South African.

The photographer for the DAMn cover and inside spread was Viviane Sassen, a 38-year-old Dutch professional who spent her early childhood in Kenya where her father was a medical doctor. Sassen is among the growing number of former fashion photographers (Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, David La Chapelle) who after conquering and becoming bored with the catwalks went searching for more creative challenges.

Sheltering Sky by Viviane Sassen | DAMn Quarterly Magazine

Anneke Bokern wrote the text, titled “The Blackest Black,” to accompany the Sassen photographs, made during a three-month location in Moshi, Tanzania.

It’s rare for a foreign photographer to stay that long in one place for a shoot, and the result showed. Words that raced through my mind while perusing Sassen’s work included: edgy, lyrical, sublime, arty, gritty, intimate, poised, posed, fun, sensitive. “Highly stylized and strangely beautiful,” was Bokern’s own verdict. Sassen’s photographs “don’t tell a story, but rather seem to hide one,” she added.

Sleeping Hunk by Viviane Sassen | DAMn Quarterly Magazine

But, I felt Sassen had blunted the impact of her images where she resorted to LEDs, such as the four neon halos around the head of the in-your-face model on the front cover, or the sleeping hunk in grandma’s bed. She said she’d employed this tool in her fashion shoot days so why not experiment with it elsewhere too. For me, it’s jarring. Well, I reckon it will be an interesting artistic verve or a distracting gimmick, depending on one’s taste.

What’s also quite striking is that there’s nary a flash of the proverbial African and big-white-teeth, usually coaxed from models in the Savannah. In fact, Sassen seems to want to de-emphasize facial expressions, at times obscuring the face of her models who looked invariably serious or coquettish; responding to whatever instructions she gave them. And there had to be much directing because most of the shots came out artistically staged, as if from set pieces.

Moshi School Boy by Viviane Sassen | DAMn Quarterly Magazine

Overall, the models looked to be having good fun, despite the contorted poses some had to execute - and the banishment of actual smiles.

Sassen has also also done location work in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. You may find a full range of the work of this hot, serious, uncompromising practitioner at www.vivianesassen.com.

Osei G. Kofi, Nana Dede-Art Africa Investment, Geneva.

Posted By: Hirum Ndungu

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