“Masquerade” - a photo exhibit about identity (Guadeloupe)

Do your friends know who you really are? French Caribbean photographer Jacky KIJA Gotin (1980) tries expose us in his new photo exhibition “Masquerade” (in French “Mascarade") on the French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe, 18-24th June 2010.

About the exhibition Gotin says: " Sometimes we are forced to wear masks in order to fit right into society, to be well seen in some groups. We develop many identities (at work, in the family, with friends, on social networks).

But at the end of the day, do we know who we really are? ‘Mascarade’ is about the fact that sometimes people can move away from who they really are and get lost. “

Mascarade (Masquerade) is a series of 35 pictures. The exhibition is in 3 parts: Dusk, Metamorphosis and Dawn.

Gotin: “So at the end of the exhibition when dawn happens, the characters of the Masquerade have to make a choice: get rid of the mask and find a true identity or keep the mask and live under a false identity. The exhibition is built with quotes of Aimé Césaire, Khalil Gibran, Maryse Condé, Les Nubians etc.”

“My photography is about the identity,” says Gotin. “ As a west Indian, I was born on an island with a Caribbean background, but with African, European, American influences. I guess my photography is about the need to define myself without denying my roots."

About Jacky KIJA Gotin. He was born in Guadeloupe in 1980, lived in Paris and moved back to Guadeloupe again. He learned photography following photographers in soul and jazz concerts in Paris. And worked with African and Caribbean musicians like Kaysha, Edgar Yonkeu, Erik, Meemee Nelzy, Dominik Coco etc..

The exhibition will take place in Le Centre Culturel de la Retraite, Baie-Mahault, on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. 18-24th June.

Website: kijaphoto.com

If you also want to catch some of the summer spirit of the French Caribbean and its people, see his Gotin’s photo stream here.