Yama Ndiaye
Photographer

Yama creates portraits of the artists supported by Porosus in 2025.

What is your artistic background ?
My artistic journey began very early on, in a deeply creative environment. Born in Paris to a Senegalese painter father and a visual artist mother from Albi, I grew up surrounded by colors and visual narratives, an upbringing that nourished my artistic vision.My dual culture also quickly became a central focus of my practice. Exploring these two heritages led me to create a visual language capable of connecting these influences and attempting to make visible the identities that have shaped me. Quite naturally, I turned to photography as a means of expression and exploration.
In 2023, I graduated from the Gobelins school, where I was able to develop my technical knowledge and refine my vision. The following year, I received the Picto Grand Prize for Fashion Photography for my project Nataal, an introspective series exploring questions of belonging related to mixed heritage and dual culture.
Alongside my commissioned work, particularly in the field of fashion, I devote myself to long-term personal projects that explore diasporic representations, identity, and memory.
My work has been featured in several exhibitions, including the Festival Les Femmes S’exposent (Houlgate, 2025), the Salon de la Photo (Paris, 2025), and the Villa Noailles (2025–2026). In 2025, I also won the Audience Award at the 40th Festival de Hyères at Villa Noailles for my ongoing project Tangana.

What is your view on your profession today ?
Today, I see that the boundaries between photographic genres are opening up and becoming increasingly blurred. This is a movement with which I fully identify: my work lies at the intersection of documentary photography, fashion, and a more visual arts approach. This hybridity allows me to tell stories in a different way, to construct narratives that are not limited to a single visual language. I find it exciting to see new forms of photography emerging that are freer and closer to contemporary art. Even if some frameworks remain a little rigid, I hope to see this hybridity develop further, as it opens up enormous creative possibilities.Photography is becoming more accessible and more open, and this evolution is transforming our profession by inviting us to assert our visions and our voices as authors more strongly.

How do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10 years ?
In five years, I see myself continuing to develop my practice and exploring the possibilities of photography even further. I would like to push the visual aspect of my work further, experiment with other forms of printing and installations, and reflect on how images can exist in space, particularly through scenography.

In ten years, I hope to be even closer to my country, Senegal. I would like to be able to live there part of the year, while maintaining my roots in France. I also see myself developing a curation program there, creating a space for sharing and exchange, and being able to welcome other artists for residencies.

Interview conducter in 2025
Photographs taken in 2025 by Yama Ndiaye