Johanna Yaovi
- 22 hours ago
- 1 min read
Johanna Yaovi’s main project starts with her mother. More than thirty years ago, soon after arriving in France, her mother sat for a series of photographs. Yaovi now restages them one by one, posing as her and updating the hair, the clothes, the styling. Old and new hang side by side, so you can see how much changes in a single generation.
To Yaovi, her mother’s pictures were a bold act of self-assertion, a Black African immigrant woman claiming her place in a society full of prejudice. Remaking them lets her look at what families pass down, how culture changes, and the lasting effects of colonial history.
Born in Paris and based in London for more than a decade, Yaovi has twice been picked for the New Art Exchange’s yearly artist cohort, and has shown at the Palais de Tokyo as part of the Leica Tour. She was also chosen for the Guest Room project by Der Greif, backed by the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.
