New Photography 2023

In our interconnected world, images are crucial. No longer solely a means of recording our surroundings, pictures have become a prism through which our experiences are made and shared. New Photography 2023: Kelani Abass, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Yagazie Emezi, Amanda Iheme, Abraham Oghobase, Karl Ohiri, Logo Oluwamuyiwa explores the work of seven artists who explore the image as a social medium, and are united by their critical use of photographic forms.

Initiating the next phase in MoMA’s celebrated series, New Photography 2023 is the first to focus on a specific art scene across the globe. Each of the international artists in the exhibition maintains a connection to the vibrant art community flourishing in the port city of Lagos (Èkó)—commercial capital of Nigeria, and one of the most populous cities on the African continent. These artists challenge the notion of the photograph as document, and mine photography’s rich history and variety to make space for new perceptions and encounters. Some take scenes of everyday life as their subject, rendering them anew through formal experimentation and poetic rumination, or by chronicling personal experience at the heart of collective political action. Others use photography to explore architecture, geographical sites, and historical figures.

Since 1985, the New Photography series has introduced work by more than 150 artists worldwide. This exhibition brings together artists at various stages in their careers, presenting the work of Kelani Abass (b. 1979), Akinbode Akinbiyi (b. 1946), Yagazie Emezi (b. 1989), Amanda Iheme (b. 1992), Abraham Oghobase (b. 1979), Karl Ohiri (b. 1983), and Logo Oluwamuyiwa (b. 1990) at MoMA for the first time.

Organized by Oluremi C. Onabanjo, Associate Curator, Department of Photography, with Kaitlin Booher, Newhall Curatorial Fellow, and Samuel Allen, MRC Fellow, Department of Photography.