Fine art photography (staged portraiture)
Tamary Kudita
About the Artist
A self-described "visual activist who uses the camera as a tool," Kudita creates sophisticated fine art portraits steeped in symbolism that exist between reality and imagination. Her work is a direct response to the colonial photography archive — pushing back against stereotypical representations of Black people and paying tribute instead to the creativity and resilience of the Zimbabwean people.
Kudita became the first African artist to receive the title of Open Photographer of the Year at the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards, with her winning portrait African Victorian — an image that probes the contextualising of the Black female body and proposes an alternative, multifaceted African identity. She holds a BFA from Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town and a fellowship at Harvard University's Hutchins Centre for African and African American Research.
Based In
Harare, Zimbabwe
Medium
Fine art photography (staged portraiture)
Discipline
Photography, scholarship, visual activism
Themes
Cultural duality, African identity, transgenerational memory, decolonising representation, the Black female figure
Notable Exhibitions
Open Photographer of the Year, Sony World Photography Awards (2021); *African Victorian Series*, The Betsy Hotel; J.M.D. Manyika Fellowship, Harvard University Hutchins Centre (2023); permanent collection, Fitchburg Art Museum
Gallery
