I did not quite realize how fantastically creepy Pieter Hugo’s new series Nollywood is, until I looked at it again today. And then I read what Elisabeth Biondi had to say about it:

“Hugo became fascinated by the gaudy world of the Nigerian movie industry, known as Nollywood. But instead of documenting what he saw, he decided to collaborate with Nigerian actors, models, and a makeup artist, using props, film sets, or natural settings to create a series of fictional portraits. The results are provocative, sometimes funny, sometimes shocking. In some cases, the actors incorporated post-colonial clichés into their own tableaus, thereby creating subversive self-representations with Hugo as the instigator and documentarian. This, to me, is what makes these pictures so remarkable.”

I think what also is so remarkable about the images is that they are in some senses still very formal portraiture; the straight-on, square format is deceptively staid, in a sense.

Izunna Onwe and Uju Mbamalu. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

Major Okolo and Do Somtin. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

Maureen Obise. Enugu, Nigeria, 2009

Patience Umeh, Junior Ofokansi, Chidi Chukwukere. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

Rose Njoku. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

Gabazzini Zuo. Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

There are more great square portraits debuting this week– Mona Kuhn’s Brazil work is being shown.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen new work from Ms. Kuhn. Lovely as always.

Doppelganger, 2009

Kaio, 2009

This one reminds me of one of Pieter’s, no?

Jungle Roots, 2009

Marina on White, 2009

Kiss, 2004 (this one is older, and from France, but I love it.)

Finally, let us end with an image from Stephanie Halmos. Beeeyootiful.

Untitled (Bess - Diptych Part Two), 2009