Photo: X Fotomat website launch: Introducing Neptune Alexandre
Neptune Alexandre was born (1992) and works in Luanda, Angola. As a toddler, Alexandre moved to Lisbon his family. His work focuses on questions of identity and belonging, with a special focus on the influence of external dominant cultures on youth in Africa. His practice is informed by having found himself without a sense of belonging to his national or cultural identity nor to his upbringing in Lisbon, as well as by the shared identity he eventually found through youth hip-hop and church groups. He practices as a photographer, videographer, editor and director. Alexandre was selected to participate in the 2019 Catchupa Factory Residency in Mindelo, Cape Verde, where he produced and exhibited the body of work Kultura Ti Ka Viaja. His work has also been included in the 2019 Portrait Show hosted by the Through the Lens Collective in Johannesburg.
About ‘Black Eye’
“This project is a meditation on feelings of isolation first experienced by the artist as a child growing up in a society in which he was considered foreign. Alexandre and his family lived in subsidized, high-rise housing in a low-income area in Lisbon before returning to Angola. This existence on the periphery of the middle-class in Lisbon contributed to an overall sense of displacement.
In 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic and enforced social distancing rendered most town centers across Africa and the world deserted. Alexandre began to see visual similarities between the abandoned high-rises of Luanda and the housing ‘projects’ in Lisbon.
This project is ongoing and explores ideas of isolation, not only as a symptom of what has fast become the global norm, but also of the alienating power of architecture, explored in relation to class and individual identity.”
Photo: has partnered with visual website builder Fotomat to create websites showcasing the talents of nine African photographers. Aimed at increasing visibility of the photographers’ work and contemporary African photography as a whole at a time when Covid-19 has shifted interactions and engagement online, the websites play a pivotal role in creating platforms to showcase important work from across the continent.
The websites have officially been launched on 15 September 2021.
Visit Neptune’s website here: https://neptunealexandresitescom.onfotomat.com
About Photo:
Photo: is a multi-operation platform for the development and promotion of socially engaged photography practices, photographers, and critical visual culture.
Through curatorial and educational projects throughout the African continent and beyond, Photo: promotes emerging and practicing photographers and photography with the aim to encourage critical and experimental approaches/responses, that challenge and stimulate how we think about photography and our world.
Further, through commissioning, producing and connecting photography projects and practitioners, Photo: wants to encourage dialogue, exchange, engagement and participation.
Central to its vision, is the idea that photography can be a delicate tool for social change.
Learn more about Photo::
About Fotomat:
Fotomat was built by the makers of Viewbook, a photo sharing platform and portfolio website builder for professionals that was founded in 2009.
Over the past two years the Fotomat team worked with artists, art educators, and photo industry professionals as part of a publication called "Transformations, Exploring Changes in and Around Photography". During this process it became apparent that there is a need for new and different ways to show image based work on the internet.
Disciplinary lines are blurred more and more every day, and many image makers are mixing video with still photography and other media in their work. They are looking for new ways to tell stories. To fill this void, the observations and ideas learned from Transformations have been applied to Fotomat and will benefit anyone looking to make a visual website, be it a simple portfolio or an immersive online exhibition.
Learn more about Fotomat:
For more information:
visit https://www.phototool.co.za/ or email info@phototool.co.za.
Learn more about the nine photographers selected to create websites with Photo: and Fotomat at https://www.phototool.co.za/2020/2021/9/15/photo-x-fotomat-launch-nine-websites-for-rising-african-photographers-1?fbclid=IwAR22N6Ds5ZyxI6O4RrRjmDrLcPjXXd7aHYFurhpJD5oeARW8zXP17Sjj88E
Posted 10/11/2021.