Jean Depara’s
Night and Day
in Kinshasa 1951-1975
Above Untitled. (©Jean Depara/Courtesy Galerie Maison Revue Noire).
In 1950, Angolan born Jean Depara (1928-1997) purchased a small Adox 6x6cm camera with the sole intention of recording his own impending wedding — in this respect, it could be said that he found photography almost by accident — but what is clear, from this point on he was rarely parted from his camera and was constantly seeking out new subjects to photograph.
Following a move to Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville) in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1951, Depara supported himself and his new wife, by combining his new found passion for image-making along with various small jobs; such as repairing bicycles or cameras, dealing in scrap metal, and periods working at the cities Bata shoe factory. Just three years on, and he had established such a significant reputation for the quality of his photography that the celebrated Zairian singer Franco invited him to become his official photographer in 1954.
Above Untitled. (©Jean Depara/Courtesy Galerie Maison Revue Noire).
Kinshasa moved to the rhythm of the Rumba and the Cha Cha in the 1950s, and Depara became the chronicler of its social life. In 1956 he established his own studio under the name Jean Whisky Depara, where he would make portraits, family photographs and document celebrations. When not in his studio, he would spend his days documenting the clientele and daily life of bars like the Kwist, or the Sarma Congo; whilst his evenings where spent hanging out in one of the cities many nightclubs, such as the, Afro Mogenbo, the Champs-Elysées, the Djambo Djambu, or the Show Boat.
Following independence from Belgium, and the formation of the République du Congo — as it became known — in 1960. Kinshasa saw an influx of cultural influences, most notably the music and fashions of Europe, and most importantly America. Luxury American automobiles became de rigueur; the fashion conscious youth — or Sapeurs as they where known — strutted their stuff on the streets of Kinshasa; whilst the musical influences of 1960s Europe and America, combined with more traditional and local forms of music, to create a highly distinct, and unique sound.
Above Untitled. (©Jean Depara/Courtesy Galerie Maison Revue Noire).
It is against this background that Depara continued to work, building an historically rich, and culturally significant document of social life in Kinshasa between 1951 and 1975, a body of work that is equal to that of the great Malian photographers, Seydou Keïta (1921-2001), and Malick Sidibé.
One of the key themes amongst Depara’s work, was the Miziki, associations of women whose tradition was firmly rooted in pre-independence, and who held a prominent position in Kinshasa society. A Moziki (singular form of Miziki) could act as a banker within her social circle. ‘In the 1950s and 1960s, Miziki associations took such names as La Pause and La Mode, and commissioned famous bands to compose songs for their annual events.’
Above Untitled. (©Jean Depara/Courtesy Galerie Maison Revue Noire).
By the 1970s, Depara was beginning to find times hard. He continued to work exclusively in black-and-white, at a time when his clients where demanding to be photographed in colour, and at the same time, the advent of the automated photographic labs that where springing up all over west Africa, where pushing prices ever downwards. In 1975, Depara became the official photographer of the National Assembly of Democratic Republic of Congo, and whilst he continued to document Kinshasa’s social life in his spare time, he would retire completely from photography in 1989.
Throughout his career, Depara rarely if ever titled his work, and it was only following his death in 1997, that his best friend Oscar Mbemba, would carefully title many of his photographs in the spirit of the era in which each image was made.