Peas in a Pod

Rachel Seidu, a young photographer from Lagos, Nigeria, explores themes of gender, intimacy, and sexuality. In connection with the work she has been doing for several years on the queerness   In Nigeria, where homosexuality and being transgender are punishable by imprisonment, the Institut pour la photographie offered him an artist residency so he could meet with the queer community  in Lille during the spring of 2025. 

The exhibition dedicated to her this fall features the photographs she took on that occasion and pairs them with a selection of portraits taken within the community LGBTQIA+ nigerian.

Rachel Seidu explores the multifaceted realities of queer life through photography. She creates visual narratives rich with symbolic references that celebrate the fullness of identity in all its facets. By questioning what it means to live in harmony with oneself and to assert one’s sexual and gender identity—concepts closely tied to freedom and the right to self-determination—her approach takes on a universal character.

Over the course of about fifteen days, Rachel Seidu met with and photographed a dozen people in the Lille metropolitan area: couples, artists, DJs, drag performers, and community activists… Through the portraits she took in the studio at Labo 148 in La Condition Publique (Roubaix)—whether in an intimate setting or outdoors—she offers a glimpse into a relatively visible and often politically active LGBTQIA+ community, in a place where such communities are under threat in her home country.

Taken in Lagos and Lille—despite their very different contexts—his photographs bear witness to creativity as an act of resistance, a powerful connection to the community, and a deep desire to live in harmony with oneself.