"Oba Egba Kotan II."

King of Dassa, Benin

C-print (digital) on baryta (océ, lightjet) – Weidprint

Since 2009 Alfred Weidinger is following the tracks of the last kings of Africa, heirs to then powerful empires, which once ruled the continent. These kings not only embody a century old tradition, they are also, in spite of not having any direct executive power, influential spiritual and political leaders of their communities. Like their European equals, the African monarchs are a living paradox, relics of a long gone time in a modernized world.
Weidinger’s series of portraits, for which he already travelled to Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroun, Chad, Uganda and Angola, with further trips planned, shows the kings in settings chosen by themselves, in presentable poses and full ceremonial dress. Like an ancestral portrait gallery, the series documents the current state of the African monarchy and is a visual testimonial of a part of African history, often overlooked from a Eurocentric perspective, and its continuity in today’s societies. Furthermore, apart from these notions of tradition and lineage, Weidinger’s intense black and white portraits also point to the charismatic personalities of the individuals as a source for their abiding social relevance.

Alfred Weidinger is Deputy Director of Belvedere, Vienna. He studied art history and archeology at Salzburg University and wrote his PhD thesis on the early works of Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka. As curator for classical modern art at Belvedere he has organized seminal exhibitions both in Vienna and internationally. His main research focus is on fine and applied arts and photography of the 19^th and 20^th century. He has travelled Africa as a freelance documentary photographer since the 1980s. For his most recent project, he has worked with a Leica M Monochrom in combination with the Noctilux 0.95 50 mm and until today has photographed 118 kings.

(https://www.leicastore-wien.at)