Photograph by Carlos Idun-Tawiah. A person in a white kit with a black "1" squats on tyres, holding a football, and gestures as they talk to a young boy in a yellow-and-black striped kit holding a football. Other children play football in the background on a concrete court with mural-covered walls.

Carlos Idun-Tawiah Residency

Carlos Idun-Tawiah (b. 1997, Ghana) will be in residence at Studio Voltaire from July to September 2026.

Idun-Tawiah’s work draws from both personal and collective archives, exploring the intersections of memory, imagination and lived experience. Working between fiction and non-fiction, past and present, his practice is intuitive and emotionally-led, making photographs rooted in the intimacy of everyday life, family, friendship and the rhythms of youth. He is focused on extending the archive, exploring what is missing or fragmented, and portraying contemporary African life with honesty, care and complexity.

During his residency, Idun-Tawiah will focus on how images can move beyond traditional photographic paper and expand into installations, objects and three-dimensional space. He plans to experiment with embedding and translating images through wood and metal to see how these materials can carry the warmth of his subjects. He will also research early photographic processes, such as daguerreotypes, examining how historical techniques, engraving and sculptural forms can change how we view and handle photography

This residency is generously supported by Philanthropic Consortium, an initiative by Omenaa Mensah.

  1. Carlos Idun-Tawiah (b. 1997, Ghana) is a Ghanaian photographer and filmmaker based in Accra, Ghana. Idun-Tawiah has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions including Aperture, Art Basel, Miami, Florida (2023); Phillips Auction, ULTIMATE, London, United Kingdom (2023); Aperture, Paris Photo, Paris, France (2023); Aperture, Art Toronto, Toronto, Canada (2023); Aperture, The Armory Show, New York, United States (2023); Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France (2023); Belfast Photo, Belfast, United Kingdom (2023); CONTACT Photo, Toronto, Canada (2023); Art Basel Miami, Miami, United States (2022); BBH Unsigned, London, United Kingdom (2021); East Photographic Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2021); and Arts Help 365, Tokyo, Toronto, and Lagos (2021).

    1. Carlos Idun-Tawiah, Day One, 2024. Archival pigment print mounted on aluminium Dibond. Image courtesy of Carlos Idun-Tawiah and Galería Alta
    2. Carlos Idun-Tawiah, In The Moonlight, 2024. Archival pigment print mounted on aluminium Dibond. Image courtesy of Carlos Idun-Tawiah and Galería Alta
    3. Carlos Idun-Tawiah, The Barbershop, 2022. Archival pigment print mounted on aluminium Dibond. Image courtesy of Carlos Idun-Tawiah and Galería Alta
    4. Carlos Idun-Tawiah, What Are Brothers For, 2023. Archival pigment print mounted on aluminium Dibond. Image courtesy of Carlos Idun-Tawiah and Galería Alta