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6 graduate portfolio Adaeze Ihebom niversity of Westminster MA Photography Arts Catherine Troiano: Among the staged submissions, this project stood out for its simple and powerful approach. Ihebom’s series of meticulously staged self-portraits captures centuries of history, narrating complex themes of colonialism, identity and womanhood with exceptional finesse. The attention to detail is remarkable, and Ihebom’s consideration of gaze, distance, angles and balance affords each of her women a sense of unmistakeable individuality. Ihebom breathes new life into iconic literary precedent, and her work eloquently examines the relationship between fiction and reality; and between personal and collective experiences. Caroline Hunter: The confidence of Ihebom’s gaze in each frame of her series of self-portraits is the first thing that struck me about this compelling body of work. Moving through centuries and decades, the simple execution seems to conceal the layers of historical narratives that she attempts to convey in each image. Part staged, part performance, I found myself wanting to know more about the identities that each self-portrait conveys, and while the idea of staging yourself as characters from the past is far from original, there was an intensity in this work that held my interest. Ezinma Okwonkwo 1900 Maryann Ginika Okwonkwo 1960
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Adaeze Ihebom 7 Adaure Augustina Okonkwo 1981 Igbo Women This is a series of self-portraits performed by me where I explore the identity of these women from various periods. The women are purely fictional characters, so I chose to give a name and a date to each of them to provide them with a sense of identity. The inspiration for the series was drawn from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe which traces the evolution of family identity from pre-colonial, through colonial and post-colonial times

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graduate portfolio

Adaeze Ihebom niversity of Westminster MA Photography Arts

Catherine Troiano: Among the staged submissions, this project stood out for its simple and powerful approach. Ihebom’s series of meticulously staged self-portraits captures centuries of history, narrating complex themes of colonialism, identity and womanhood with exceptional finesse. The attention to detail is remarkable, and Ihebom’s consideration of gaze, distance, angles and balance affords each of her women a sense of unmistakeable individuality. Ihebom breathes new life into iconic literary precedent, and her work eloquently examines the relationship between fiction and reality; and between personal and collective experiences.

Caroline Hunter: The confidence of Ihebom’s gaze in each frame of her series of self-portraits is the first thing that struck me about this compelling body of work. Moving through centuries and decades, the simple execution seems to conceal the layers of historical narratives that she attempts to convey in each image. Part staged, part performance, I found myself wanting to know more about the identities that each self-portrait conveys, and while the idea of staging yourself as characters from the past is far from original, there was an intensity in this work that held my interest.

Ezinma Okwonkwo 1900

Maryann Ginika Okwonkwo 1960

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