Born in Kenya in 1962 during his early childhood he is unable to walk due to sickness and it is only after his grandfather cures him through traditional sorcery that he gains the use of his legs. If it hadn't been for the bloody civil war he would have become a healer, however with a destroyed village and half of his family dead, he follows his uncle to Bangui and becomes his assistant as a shoe maker. Rapidly, however, he realizes that having a photo studio would let him "wear what [he] liked, dress fashionably, stay clean, and have time to have fun.’’ At the young age of 13 he opens his bout … (read more)

Born in Kenya in 1962 during his early childhood he is unable to walk due to sickness and it is only after his grandfather cures him through traditional sorcery that he gains the use of his legs. If it hadn't been for the bloody civil war he would have become a healer, however with a destroyed village and half of his family dead, he follows his uncle to Bangui and becomes his assistant as a shoe maker. Rapidly, however, he realizes that having a photo studio would let him "wear what [he] liked, dress fashionably, stay clean, and have time to have fun.’’ At the young age of 13 he opens his boutique and after opening hours starts to pose, dress up like the 'stars' and by constructing lighting made out of pots and pans photographs himself like close cousins of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Africa's dictators or Kodak's promotional pamphlet models.

Discovered in 1993 by the French photographer Bernard Descamps, who happened to be passing through Bangui and saw Fosso’s studio. Since this discovery the photograph has had the opportunity to show his photographs abroad. Often tagged the African Male version of Cindy Sherman, he has shown his work all over the world including at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, at the Hayward and Tate Modern galleries in London, and the Guggenheim Museum.

He is represented by Marc Patras' gallery in Paris, Jean Marc Patras / Gallery, and lives with his wife and three children in Bangui.

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