Akinbode Akinbiyi, Wedding, Berlin, 2005, Aus der Serie: „African Quarter“, seit den 1990er Jahren
© Akinbode AkinbiyiThe photographer and author of global renown Akinbode Akinbiyi (*1946 Oxford, England), who has lived and worked in Berlin since 1991, wanders the megacities of this world capturing life on the streets. Berlin, Brasília, Durban, Lagos – urban space is his workstation. He experiences it as an “interminal labyrinth” or, as he phrased it in 2009, “a maze of never ending streets that coalesce into uncountable pathways”. Akinbiyi photographs what he observes, predominantly in analogue black-and-white. His pictures are visual metaphors rich in nuance, addressing cultural change and social exclusion but also the political, social and architectural impact of colonialism. In these images, he conveys a world view that shuns stereotyping and depicts without discrimination.
Featuring some 120 photographs drawn from several series – two of these on show in Germany for the first time – the exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie offers insights into an oeuvre covering five decades.