Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin, b. 1965

Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou is one of the pre-eminent photographers of the Republic of Benin. Born in Porto-Novo in 1965, he was trained by his father, the world-renowned photographer Joseph Moise Agbodjelou (1912-2000). Leonce’s ongoing portraiture project, 'Citizens of Porto-Novo,' captures the people of Benin’s capital. Using a daylight studio and a medium format film, the artist interprets the experience of a generation caught between tradition and progress.

Leonce is the founder and director of the first photographic school in Benin and has been appointed President of the Photographer's Association of Porto-Novo. Exhibitions include ‘Marvellous Realism' curated by Ekow Eshun, Fotografiska Shanghai,  'A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography', curated by Osei Bonsu, Tate Modern, London, Saatchi Gallery London, Seattle Art Museum, Fowler Museum Los Angeles, Brooklyn Museum New York, Vitra Museum Basel, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Camden Arts Centre, London, among others.

His work has been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, Musee de Quai Branly, Paris, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, Museum of Modern Art, Equatorial Guinea and Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.