About Moussa Kalapo

Moussa Kalapo was born in 1983 in Bamako, Mali. After studying accounting and computer science at the vocational training institute of Sikasso and Bamako, he enrolled in 2010 at the Center for Training in Photography (CFP) in Bamako.

Kalapo has carried out photojournalism projects for  NGOs such as Swisscontact, One Word, and Spana Mali. He has also participated in photography workshops and group exhibitions in Mali and France.

Kalapo is currently working on the project NEH Mali-Photo, for the preservation, digitization and archiving of the heritage of important African photographers Malick Sidibe, Abderahamane Sakaly, Tijane Sitou and Adama Kouyate.

He was selected for the Panafrican Exhibition of the 10th edition of the Bamako Biennale of Photography, organized by Bisi Silva of the Center for Contemporary Art Lagos, which will feature his latest project “The Metaphor of Time”.

Kalapo is the winner of the 2nd Innovation Prize at the 3rd edition of Quinzaine de la Photographie in Benin in 2016 for his series “Modern Slavery’’.

He is a contributor to the world’s largest image bank, Getty Images, and Co-founder and active member of the association Collectif Images Conceptuelles.

Tierney Bamako Award at the Market Photo Workshop

The Tierney Bamako Award is a 15 months award to a photographer from the African continent selected by judges from the 2015 Bamako Encounters. It recognizes and rewards Africa’s best photographers by providing the winner with the financial and infrastructural support necessary to build on their existing photography expertise through 1 of the 3 options below:

The winner can choose 1 of the 3 programmes applicable to the development of their practice:

1. studying either the Advanced Programme in Photography of the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme at the prominent photography training institution on the continent, Market Photo Workshop. The APP and PDP are year courses in which photographers develop an independent body of work and portfolio. The course requires students’ active participation in course subjects, projects and engagement with trainers and mentors.
2. working closely with a suitable mentor with assistance from a network of professional photographers in Johannesburg, South Africa. The mentor will provide guidance and direction on the photographer’s intended body of work and the photographer’s professional development.
3. working closely with a suitable mentor with assistance from a network of professional photographers in photographers home country. The photographer will work with a mentor from his home country but will be required to attend group-mentoring critique sessions in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The outcome of the award would see the winner producing and exhibiting a new body of photography work. Other proposed outcomes may take various forms, from participating in participatory photo projects, internship, talks and a publication.