Vivien Sassen's Flamboya cycles were created in places in Africa where she lived as a child. In these groups of works the Dutch photographer addresses issues such as the perception and reception of human images; their open concept is such that they can be situated within the context of both staged and documentary photography.

With the play of light and shadow and the use of colourful symbolism - Flamboya refers to a species of flowering plant or tree with a particularly flamboyant display of flowers - the scenes featuring her protagonists transpose them from their everyday lives to a surreal setting. Far from the West's conventional clichés of the continent as a whole the artist succeeds, thanks in part to her personal history and identity, in reflecting herself in those standing before her and in inscribing herself in an archaic yet also highly contemporary image of Africa.

Ci-contre : Viviane Sassen, Menthe, 2010, courtesy the artist and Motive Gallery Amsterdam