Andrew Heller's Annotated Bib 4

Observation

In this photo Samuel Fosso is posed wearing retro golfing attire in front of a sheet painted to resemble a golf course. He’s wearing glasses and a black golf hat as well. The pants on Fosso only come down to his ankles and are a light brown color. He is wearing white golf gloves, white golf shoes, and is holding an older looking club. Additionally, he is wearing a white and gray-checkered vest, a white tie, and long sleeve brown shirt. There are yellow, orange, and purple flowers on the ground along with a green sheet made to resemble grass. The golf course in the background has a road diving the middle of it and is a mixture of green pasture and lighter green grass.

Inferences

According to the article from the Guardian it appears as though Saumel Fosso liked to portray himself in the most outlandishly beautiful way possible. In this photograph he seems to be focused on bright themes due to the inclusion of all the bright colors, and he appears to be using the colors to accentuate his own beauty in a very unique and colorful way. The green grass in the backdrop is greener on one side, which means that Fosso may have been alluding to one place or culture being better or “greener” than the other. It also appears as though Fosso is particularly interested in taking his audience to a field similar to the one in the backdrop. He is smiling and, again, the colors are especially bright, suggesting that he wants to take his audience to some place they may have never been before (Taylor par 6). Perhaps Fosso is attempting to take his African audience to a culture they aren’t familiar with by displaying the golf setting. Additionally, while the main theme appears to focus on transporting the audience to an unfamiliar place like the golf course setting, an additional theme may involve an African twist on western culture. In her article, Taylor references a picture Fosso took in which he was dressed as an African chief and used to photograph to represent everything his African culture had before the white man began to intervene (Taylor par. 9). Perhaps Fosso is doing something similar here in this picture by wearing the white and brown clothes together in the typically white setting of the golf course to show conversely how black culture has begun to influence white culture. This theme could also be present since Fosso was very angry about the way his country often succumbed to outside influences (Taylor par. 13). To me, it seems that he is trying to reverse the trend of white influence on black culture, and instead, exemplify black influence on white culture. It is clear that he is trying to take his audience somewhere else with the highlighted colors and backdrop, but there is also a rebellious tone to the picture. A tone that’s angry and wants to make a mark on white culture, just like the many that have been made on black culture. In this case, his unique outfit and color choice make that mark along with the fact that he is an African man dressed for a traditionally white sport.