Adama Jalloh
Community, Power
To prove that there are always aspects of London still to be shown, is a feat which Adama Jalloh has undertaken boldly. Growing up to Sierra Leonean parents, Jalloh was trained at the Arts University Bournemouth in photography, with a focus on Documentary and portraiture. Her work deals heavily in the intimacy of the camera and the subject and what is required of the photographer to create an image of another person. Jalloh recognizes that her way of shooting portraiture can at times be a collaboration between the photographer and the subject.
Jalloh is interested in telling stories from her memory. The subject, Jalloh argues, shares in a collective memory if they are from the same communities and by engaging them, the photographer can evoke in the subject the memory or at least the subject’s nearest approximation of it.
Doing so gives the photographs depth, "charisma, intimacy and joy", and allows the viewer to connect with the subject and also creating a sort of visual diary entry for the subject themselves. A new perspective, of recreation by analogy, is born.
In addition to her personal work,Jalloh’s work in the music sphere has become highly sought after with early commissions to shoot Zara McFarlane and Yussef Kamaal for Brownswood Recordings in 2017. Since then she has worked with artists such as Shabaka Hutchings, MIKE, Jamilah Barry, Little Simz, Freddie Gibbs, Mr Eazi, Kwaku Asante and many others. By using a process which is fluid and unconstrained, the art is made in the moment, live and fresh like Jazz. However, this kind of improvisatory making requires both a trust and shared language with the other participants, built up through conversation, which allows her to navigate the dialogue gracefully.
Jalloh is interested in telling stories from her memory. The subject, Jalloh argues, shares in a collective memory if they are from the same communities and by engaging them, the photographer can evoke in the subject the memory or at least the subject’s nearest approximation of it.
Doing so gives the photographs depth, "charisma, intimacy and joy", and allows the viewer to connect with the subject and also creating a sort of visual diary entry for the subject themselves. A new perspective, of recreation by analogy, is born.
In addition to her personal work,Jalloh’s work in the music sphere has become highly sought after with early commissions to shoot Zara McFarlane and Yussef Kamaal for Brownswood Recordings in 2017. Since then she has worked with artists such as Shabaka Hutchings, MIKE, Jamilah Barry, Little Simz, Freddie Gibbs, Mr Eazi, Kwaku Asante and many others. By using a process which is fluid and unconstrained, the art is made in the moment, live and fresh like Jazz. However, this kind of improvisatory making requires both a trust and shared language with the other participants, built up through conversation, which allows her to navigate the dialogue gracefully.
