A story of a man who survived his past and can now show us his bright future that he has reinvented himself. A true case of rebirth portrayed in a dynamic and breathtaking exhibition.
Once again the National Portrait Gallery in London welcomes several emergent photographers to show their work and share part of their identity. The Taylor Wessing exhibition, presented this year, invites the audience to look at the work of a series of young artists having different cultural backgrounds and coming from various parts of the world. Each portrait tells a precise and singular story that challenges the world’s current issues, such as addiction.
The direct but simple portrait “Bodybuilder”, made in 2022 by the Spanish photographer Roberto Alegria, explores the challenge of addiction in our contemporary world. The portrait represents Patrick Asiedu, an African professional bodybuilder, in a landscape full of soft pink and violet clouds, creating a contrast between Asiedu’s toned body and the tenderness of the clouds. The touching portrait wants to highlight the incredible strengths and brilliant future of a man who once was no one, a man who due to his addiction to drugs was reduced to misery. A recent research, conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, reports that just in the year 2021 more than 106.000 people died from overdose and drug addiction in the USA. This portrait and Patrick Asiedu are an example of bravery and total reinvention, giving hope to all those people out there who are currently struggling to overcome their dependence.
The Taylor Wessing exhibition of 2023, with its 51 portraits of 36 emerging artists, allows the public to immerse themselves in a journey filled with peculiar and sometimes moving stories of simple but incredible human beings.