Omar Victor Diop
location: Paris, FranceRegarded as one of the most important Senegalese photographers of his generation, Omar Victor Diop was born in Dakar in 1980 and was brought up there. He now divides his time between his birthplace and Paris.
From a very early age, Diop cultivated his vivid imagination as much through photography as through literature and history, leading him to hone his talent in several art forms, from collage and creative writing to fashion and textile design. His influences include the major African portrait artists Mama Casset, Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé, the French creator Jean-Paul Goude, as well as several Flemish and Spanish painters of the Renaissance.
An invitation to take part in the ninth edition of the Pan-African photography biennial Rencontres de Bamako (Bamako Encounters), held in 2011 in Mali, marked the true beginning of Diop’s professional career as a photographer.
Diop’s work is now part of major institutions collections — such as the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, the Brooklyn Museum in the United States, the Musée de la Photographie de Saint-Louis in Senegal — and has been shown in exhibitions at high-profile international events, such as Paris Photo and the Rencontres d’Arles in France, the New York edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair and Kyotographie in Japan. His images also appear regularly in magazines around the world, among them Harper’s Bazaar, Spanish Vogue and Madame Figaro. In addition, as an art director, Diop has led campaigns for many clients, such as Lavazza, Lancel and Pernod Ricard. His first monograph, Omar Victor Diop, was published by 5 Continents Editions in 2021, followed by a travel book with Louis Vuitton Editions.
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