Joseph Chila is a Cameroonian photographer from

Mbouda Mbouda is the capital of the Bamboutos department of West Province, Cameroon. Projected to be the fourteenth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.16% growth. Notable people born in Mbouda * (G ...

in the West Region of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. For most of his working life he was based in Mayo-Darlé in

Adamawa Region The Adamawa Region (french: Région de l'Adamaoua) is a constituent region of the Republic of Cameroon. It borders the Centre and East regions to the south, the Northwest and West regions to the southwest, Nigeria to the west, the Central Afr ...

Early life

Joseph Chila was born in 1948 near Mbouda in the

West Region Western Region or West Region may refer to: Places *Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi, the Western Region *Western Region, Bahrain *Western Region, Eastern Cape, South Africa *Western Region, Ghana *Western Region (Iceland) *Western Region, Nepal *Western Regi ...

of Cameroun, in the Bamiléké area. He was apprenticed to an uncle,

Jacques Toussele Jacques Toussele was a Cameroonian photographer from Bamessingué near Mbouda in the Western Region of Cameroon. There are several variant spelling of his Bamiléké name: Toussile, Tousellé, Tousselle and Touselle are all attested. The spelling ...

, in Mbouda from 1969 to 1974; then he set up a studio for some six months in Mbouda before moving to

Mayo-Darlé Mayo-Darlé is a town and commune in Cameroon. It had a tin mine nearby from c 1935 to c 1980 (see Nguene 1982). One of the commonly known villages in Mayo-Darle is Wouro-Yobi which is known for rearing cattle and farming of corn and vegetables. ...

in the Adamaoua Region in 1975 after one of his relatives told him that there was no photographer there.

Career

Joseph Chila worked as a studio photographer in Mayo-Darlé, a small town that then had a tin mine operating that brought wealth to the residents. He remained in Mayo-Darlé until the mid-1990s when he retired to

Bankim Bankim, M'Bankim, Bamkin or Kimi is a town and commune of the division Mayo-Banyo in Adamaoua in Cameroon. It is about 95 km from Foumban and 125 km from Banyo The area's vegetation is of shrub savanna type. History Bankim is sa ...

(some 70 km from Mayo-Darlé) where he currently (2020) lives, farming and undertaking occasional photographic commissions. His work has been exhibited in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

and

Bamenda Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region, Cameroon, Northwest Region. The city has a population of about 2 million people and is located north-west of the Cameroonian ca ...

and in the National Portrait Gallery (London). In ''Joseph Chila and Samuel Finlak: Two Portrait Photographers in Cameroon'', which accompanied the London show, Andrew Wilson points out how different Chila's work is from

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Is ...

's images from Cameroon;An example
of Penn's work. and while there are parallels with other African photographers such as

Seydou Keïta Seydou Keïta (1921/23 – 21 November 2001) was a Malian photographer known for his portraits of people and families he took at his portrait photography studio in Mali's capital, Bamako, in the 1950s. His photographs are widely acknowledged not ...

, Chila's work is distinct. Chila's work has also been discussed by the art historian Graham Clarke. Of one of Chila's portraits, Clarke makes parallels with

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

and says "The effect . . . is to both suggest an extraordinary sense of presence which, in relation to Barthes' use of the ask', achieves, once again, a remarkable sense of the individual subject."Clarke is referring here to something

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular ...

writes in ''

Camera Lucida A ''camera lucida'' is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists and microscopists. The ''camera lucida'' performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist se ...

''.

Exhibitions

*''Cameroon: Faces and places: A photographic exhibition by two Cameroonian photographers.'' With Samuel Finlak. Except where noted, curated by David Zeitlyn and David Reason **

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, Yaoundé Seminar Room, 16–30 Jan 2004 **British Council Library, Bamenda, 1–8 March 2004 (during Commonwealth week) **British Council Offices, Douala, February 2005 **

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

, Summer 2005. Curated by NPG staff. *''Photo Cameroon: Studio Portraiture 1970-1990s'': a major exhibition at the

Fowler Museum at UCLA The Fowler Museum at UCLA, commonly known as The Fowler, and formerly Museum of Cultural History and Fowler Museum of Cultural History, is a museum on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) which explores art and material ...

in the second half of 2021: See https://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/photo-cameroon/. Curated by Erica Jones and David Zeitlyn.

Collections

. Two portraits.Joseph Chila
National Portrait Gallery.

Notes

References

External links

Chila Joseph, Photographer: Photos from Mayo Darlé, Cameroon (Cameroun, Kamerun)
Flickr
Virtual Institute of Mambila Studies website
See the links under "Cameroonian Studio Photography" on the top page {{DEFAULTSORT:Chila, Joseph Living people 1948 births Cameroonian photographers Portrait photographers People from West Region (Cameroon)