Les Rencontres d’Arles and the Palais de Tokyo are proud to present Paul Kodjo: Photoromance, the first major solo exhibition in France dedicated to the pioneering Ivorian photographer Paul Kodjo.
A central figure in the development of post-independence Ivorian visual culture, Kodjo was among the first African photographers to explore the photo novel — drawn not only by its narrative potential, but by the new creative possibilities that cinematic language offered for still image-making.

The exhibition brings together photographs from his photo novels alongside a broader body of work, much of it never previously exhibited. The focus falls on Kodjo’s practice following his return to Abidjan in 1970, when he founded the avant-garde agency MAMEDIS (Mass Media Service), operating across photography, cinema, and publishing. It was through this agency that Kodjo produced his first photo novels, which quickly became its defining output. Published from 1971 onwards in the weekly magazine Ivoire Dimanche, these romantic comedies — full of twists and cinematic flair, and drawing on European, particularly Italian, photo novel traditions — established the aesthetic and narrative codes of a distinctly Ivorian visual and sentimental culture. Their influence endured, shaping Ivorian audiovisual production well into the country’s creative golden age of the 2000s.

Shot in public spaces and domestic interiors alike, the photo novels also document the profound social and economic transformations of the so-called “Ivorian miracle” — the period of prosperity in the 1960s and 70s that fuelled cultural dynamism and opened new forms of participation in global consumer culture. As a chronicler of this era, Kodjo brought his artistic vision, cinematic framing, and taste for narrative intrigue to documentary work that immerses viewers in Abidjan’s vibrant nightlife, fashions, and urban social scene.

The works on view have been preserved through more than fifteen years of dedicated effort by Les Rencontres du Sud, the organisation founded by Ivorian photographer Ananias Léki Dago. A new phase in the preservation of Kodjo’s negatives began in 2025 with the support of the Modern Endangered Archives Program at UCLA. Tickets and further information are available at rencontres-arles.com.

The exhibition is curated by Amandine Nana and co-produced by the Rencontres d’Arles and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris.

About the Author

Paul Kodjo (Born 1939 – 2021) is a defining figure in the visual history of post-independence Ivory Coast. He began his career in Abidjan in the early 1960s before moving to Paris in 1967 to study photography. Following his training, he worked as a photojournalist and opened his first studio in the city. In 1970, upon returning to Ivory Coast, he founded MAMEDIS (Mass Media Service), an avant-garde agency operating at the intersection of photography, cinema, and publishing, whose central activity became the production of photo novels. Alongside this work, he took on numerous commissions for bars and nightclubs, fashion designers, and private clients. Embedded in the cultural energy generated by the youth of his era, Kodjo’s body of work offers a singular and enduring visual record of a society in transformation.

Paul Kodjo: Photoromance
6 July – 4 October 2026
Rencontres d’Arles 2026 – Arles – France

More info:
https://www.rencontres-arles.com/