Samuel Finlak 1958-2023 was a Cameroonian photographer originally from the Yamba village of Bongor, Ngwa, in Northwest Province (now Northwest 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 the resident photographer in Atta Village,

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 ...

. He died on 8 January 2023.

Early life

Samuel Finlak was born in 1958 at Bongor, Ngwa village in

Donga-Mantung Donga-Mantung is a Departments of Cameroon, division of the Northwest Province (Cameroon), Northwest Region of Cameroon. The division covers an area of 4279 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 337,533. The capital city of the division ...

department, where he trained as a photographer via a correspondence course.

Career

Having learnt photography in Ngwa, in February 1986 Finlak moved some fifty kilometres to the village of on the in Adamawa Region, where he established himself as the village photographer and also worked in neighbouring villages such as and

Somié Somié is a village in Bankim, Mayo-Banyo in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. It is located near the Nigeria – Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Camer ...

. Finlak's 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 singles out the joy of the people depicted in Finlak's work; and while there are parallels with other African photographers such as

Malick Sidibé Malick Sidibé (1935 – 14 April 2016) was a Malian photographer noted for his black-and-white studies of popular culture in the 1960s in Bamako. Sidibé had a long and fruitful career as a photographer in Bamako, Mali, and was a well-known fig ...

, Finlak's style is distinct. Finlak's work has also been discussed by the art historian Graham Clarke. Clarke comments on the power of Finlak's portraits and the compositional skill of the group images.

Exhibitions

*''Cameroon: Faces and places: A photographic exhibition by two Cameroonian photographers.'' With

Joseph Chila Joseph Chila is a Cameroonian photographer from Mbouda in the West Region of Cameroon. For most of his working life he was based in Mayo-Darlé in Adamawa Region. Early life Joseph Chila was born in 1948 near Mbouda in the West Region of Camero ...

. 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.Samuel Finlak
National Portrait Gallery.

References

External links

*
Samuel Finlak, Photographer: Photos from Atta village, Cameroon (Cameroun, Kamerun)
, Flickr
Virtual Institute of Mambila Studies website
See the links under "Cameroonian Studio Photography" on the top page {{DEFAULTSORT:Finlak, Samuel Cameroonian photographers People from Northwest Region (Cameroon) Portrait photographers Living people 1958 births