Azu Nwagbogu’s curated picks | Maya-Inès Touam

2020’s edition of Photo London showcases such strong, diverse and exciting work presented by artists and photographers with galleries from all over the world. It was a tough choice to narrow down a selection of my favourites however I decided to go with the works of artists who use the medium of photography as a tool to re-mediate social context, history and or constructed narrative and contemporary realities. From lively playful aesthetic work like Hassan Hajjaj’s ‘Sistaz’ to thoughtful and provocative work by Joana Choumali whereby she pushes the boundaries of photography and intervenes on her images by stitching and embroidering intricate patterns onto her photographs. Another favourite is Julia Fullerton-Batten whose work strikes a chord and is an example of powerful cinematic creation of work in confinement similar to the situation we have all experienced during the pandemic.

There are a few surprise discoveries like Margaret (Sherie) Ngigi whose work I have only recently come to know and Maya Ines Touam’s brilliant still life assemblages and Alexia Fiasco’s introspective recreation of her family album. Filipe Branquinho’s photography of found objects on the streets of Maputo resonates with certain ideas I am currently working on around the notions of the Home Museum. I love the simple direct style Filipe adopts. It is also important to see the works of the late great Peter Beard and David Goldblatt both of whom gave so much to photography as an art form.