Lucky Jim

Seven years after his last exhibition at the gallery, James Barnor, 97, returns with previously unseen prints exploring self-portraiture and self-staging. His journey between pre-independence Ghana and the United Kingdom is marked by iconic images: 1950s studio work, reportage from independence (1957), fashion shots from the 1960s, portraits of the British diaspora, and then his return to Ghana in the 1970s, where he excelled at staging scenes (the Agip series for a 1974 calendar).

Catalogued between 2017 and 2021, this archive has been the subject of numerous studies and exhibitions. A happy coincidence: on October 22, the Fondation Cartier opens "The Time of Harvest" by Ibrahim Mahama, who selected images from the Agip series already shown in Tamale in 2024. This event marks Barnor's return to Paris.

James Barnor, Coffee night at Theobald’s Road, London, 1960 - Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière