Born in 1995, Yannis Davy Guibinga is a self-taught photographer from Libreville, Gabon who currently lives and works in Montreal, Canada. Focusing mostly on portraits, Yannis’ work is mostly centered around studying Blackness at large and its intersections with other social factors such as cultures and gender for instance. Yannis’ work focuses almost exclusively on black people as a way to try and capture the multidimensionality of blackness.
THE DARKEST COLOR
In many cultures across the globe, the color black is a symbolism for darkness, mourning and death but also anything else that is frightening, negative and standing in opposition to the purity and goodness of the white. “The Darkest Color” is an abstract representation and visual re-imagination of the inevitable loss of the Man in his battle with Death, very often pictured in the color Black, or one similar to it. The constant presence and… proximity of Death that is felt by every individual throughout their lifetimes is represented in this series by the constant yet sometimes barely visible presence of a female form, looming over and interacting with the other subject. Through the study of the Human form and the overwhelming presence of the color black, “The Darkest Color” aims to interrogate, reinvestigate and redefine the stereotypes and preconceived notions not only about the color black itself, but also about death. Rather than being seen as a tragedy, “The Darkest Color” aims to re-imagine the inevitable act of dying as a peaceful rest after the intense and sometimes turbulent journey that is Life.
WEST HARLEM ART FUND 