Omar Victor Diop's photographic career began in 2012 and he gained international recognition with his Project. Diaspora, a series of inspired, staged metaphorical portraits of himself as various historical figures. He wittily plays homage to the portraits significant figures by famous artists of the 15th -19th centuries and in so doing, reflects on current obsessions with celebrity and with football in particular.
For Diop, the European perception of African footballers is a mx of glory and hero-worship giving a somewhat fragile illusion of integration - exclusion is often the reality and this is the paradox he explores in so much of his work.
Heir to a tradition of elaborate studio portraiture favoured by Seydou Keita and Malick Sibidé , his style references other generations often ignored by his contemporaries : "This was just a visual language that I had and that I use because it's my heritage. I'm continuing a conversation."
For Omar Victor Diop photography is also a means to capture the diversity of modern African societies and lifestyles "….an Africa that both dreams and takes action, with optimism and ambition."
His work is held by the Brooklyn Museum, New York and was featured at Maison de l'Afrique, Paris (solo show) and at the Vitra Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany in 2015.