Jean Depara — ceddocollection

Jean Depara

^{Angola / Congo (1928–1997). Depara was introduced to the photographic art in a very curious way. To register his wedding in 1950, he bought a small Adox camera and never stopped taking photos. In 1954 the famous singer Zairiano, Franco, invited him to become his official photographer, launching Depara’s career as a chronicler of the busy social life in Kinshasa. He opened his studio, Jean Whisky Depara, in Kinshasa, working there until 1956 making portraits, family photographies and celebrations. Fascinated by the effervescent night life in Kinshasa, Depara captured with flashes an Africa destitute of conventional social codes. Interracial marriages, hipsters, and those that, imitating James Dean, have chosen to “live fast, die young”, have become his clients.}