Artistic description of the photograph: This photograph stages a central figure whose face is covered by the hands of two others. Within this interplay of shadows and gestures, a tension unfolds between protection, erasure, and constraint. The hands act both as a veil and a revealer, questioning how identity is shaped through relationships with others. Light carves the volumes and emotions, unveiling the complexity of human bonds, where intimacy, dependence, and resistance coexist.
Artistic description of the series: The Bodies and Light series explores the relationship between the body and luminous brilliance through a choreographic and sculptural approach. These black-and-white photographs reveal figures suspended between visibility and disappearance. Inspired by contemporary dance, WODY highlights both fragility and strength, while questioning identity transformations and power dynamics. Each image becomes a poetic score, where light functions as a living substance shaping the body and its presence in the world.
Yawo WODY’s photographic practice delves into the fluid relationship between the human body, space, and light. Guided by a constant pursuit of balance, elegance, and poetic resonance, his work transforms photography into a choreographic language where movement becomes narrative.
His series “Corps et lumière” (Body and Light) embodies this approach. Inspired by his passion for contemporary dance and enriched through collaborations with dancers and choreographers from various companies, the series unfolds in three chapters, questioning: the body’s relationship with time, its inscription in space, and the transformations of identity it undergoes.
WODY sculpts his subjects with light, using both natural and artificial sources to reveal subtle details of form, texture, and emotion. His black-and-white images, often set against deep, minimalist backgrounds, create a tension between appearance and dissolution. Each photograph becomes a visual narrative, where energy, intimacy, and abstraction coexist.
Beyond aesthetics, his work engages with social and political questions, reflecting on themes such as power dynamics, territoriality, identity, and the evolving state of the world. Through his lens, Yawo WODY invites viewers into a space where the human body becomes a living sculpture, oscillating between fragility and transcendence.
Yawo WODY is a self-taught photographer, exhibition curator, and artistic director based in Lomé, Togo. His visual universe explores the interactions between the body, light, and movement, drawing inspiration from contemporary dance and three-dimensional forms.
2025 – Venice Architecture Biennale (Italy) Featured in the Togo Pavilion, curated by the Palais de Lomé
2023 – AKAA Art Fair (Also Known As Africa), Paris Presented the series “Corps et lumière|Body and Light.”
2022 – Group Exhibition, Palais de Lomé (Togo).
2021 – Festival of Contemporary Arts, Cotonou, Benin.
2020 – Solo Exhibition “Ombres et Présences | Shadows and Presences,” Lomé.
