Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1993, Pamela Tulizo grew up in Goma in the war-torn North Kivu province, where armed conflicts have led to alarming levels of violence against women. Working with the theme “Face to Face”, Pamela Tulizo opposes the negative, victimized image of Congolese women depicted in the international press with a hopeful representation that highlights their vitality and resilience.
In her series “Double Identity”, Pamela Tulizo presents thirteen portraits of a Congolese woman split between her identity and the role she is given by the media. Playing with mirrors and reflections, the artist composes a plural, dialectical perspective, using avatars whose roles are imbued with disparate connotations. In turna doctor or foreman, elegant and self-possessed or modestly dressed and laden with bundles, these mises- en-scène explore the richness and conflict of identity in African woman.
Trained as a journalist, Pamela Tulizo distancesherself here from documentary photography, using the codes of fashion photography to create a narrative that “has little to do with the beauty we see on television or in magazines,” she says, instead seeking “to reveal the inner beauty and power” of the women around her.
