The photographer’s latest series deals with the fundamental question of the environment and its scope on the African continent. It wants to be the allegory of a humanity concerned with a nature which could be nothing more than a memory of natural history textbooks.
On the occasion of Paris Photo, Allegoria, a series of fifteen photos of Omar Victor Diop, is visible from November 11 to 14, 2021 at the Grand Palais Ephémère. The MAGNIN-A gallery, which represents the photographer in world exclusivity, will unveil the first book dedicated to him as well as his last three emblematic series: Diaspora (2014), Liberty (2017) and Allegoria (2021). The book is produced in co-edition with 5 Continents Editions.
“The symbolic garden that surrounds my allegory knows no borders, and can just as easily mix different parts of the planet as opposing elements or seasons. It is up to the spectator to decipher the language of allegory, to grasp the codes, values and meanings of a bee, a dodo or a reed. How do you feel when you see a doe in a port atmosphere, accompanied by seagulls, corals and fish? Climate change? A dialogue within the fauna? As with a prophetic text, the reader makes his interpretation. I wanted to give a religious dignity to my allegory, a sometimes appeased meditation, like Saint Francis of Assisi watching over the species, sometimes playful, like Orpheus enchanting nature“, declares Omar Victor Diop.