Samuel Finlak 1958-2023 was a Cameroonian photographer originally from the
Yamba village of Bongor, Ngwa, in Northwest Province (now
Northwest Region) of
Cameroon. For most of his working life he was the resident photographer in Atta Village,
Adamawa Region. He died on 8 January 2023.
Samuel Finlak was born in 1958 at Bongor, Ngwa village in Donga-Mantung department, where he trained as a photographer via a correspondence course. [1]
Having learnt photography in Ngwa, in February 1986 Finlak moved some fifty kilometres to the village of Atta on the Tikar Plain in Adamawa Region, where he established himself as the village photographer and also worked in neighbouring villages such as Songkolong and Somié.
Finlak's work has been exhibited in Yaoundé, Douala and Bamenda, and in the National Portrait Gallery (London). In Joseph Chila and Samuel Finlak: Two Portrait Photographers in Cameroon, [2] 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, Finlak's style is distinct. Finlak's work has also been discussed by the art historian Graham Clarke. [3] Clarke comments on the power of Finlak's portraits and the compositional skill of the group images. [4]
Samuel Finlak 1958-2023 was a Cameroonian photographer originally from the
Yamba village of Bongor, Ngwa, in Northwest Province (now
Northwest Region) of
Cameroon. For most of his working life he was the resident photographer in Atta Village,
Adamawa Region. He died on 8 January 2023.
Samuel Finlak was born in 1958 at Bongor, Ngwa village in Donga-Mantung department, where he trained as a photographer via a correspondence course. [1]
Having learnt photography in Ngwa, in February 1986 Finlak moved some fifty kilometres to the village of Atta on the Tikar Plain in Adamawa Region, where he established himself as the village photographer and also worked in neighbouring villages such as Songkolong and Somié.
Finlak's work has been exhibited in Yaoundé, Douala and Bamenda, and in the National Portrait Gallery (London). In Joseph Chila and Samuel Finlak: Two Portrait Photographers in Cameroon, [2] 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, Finlak's style is distinct. Finlak's work has also been discussed by the art historian Graham Clarke. [3] Clarke comments on the power of Finlak's portraits and the compositional skill of the group images. [4]