Congo Through The Lens of Robert Nzaou

At World of Us we get to meet many creative minds. In December 2023, Robert Nzaou joined us as a co-creator during our Participatory Art Direction experience in Kouilou, Congo, documenting stories and natural elements that will be digitised to bring to life Congo’s tales in the upcoming World of Us Game. Most recently, we had the pleasure of getting to speak about his work documenting the daily life of those around him in the country he calls home.

WOU: 
Maybe you can start by telling our readers how you became a photographer and what were your earliest memories of pursuing a creative life?

Robert:
I didn't grow up in an artistic family. My father was a teacher and had hopes of us becoming engineers and doctors. I never even really knew if he had an artistic side to him.

When I was young, music opened my door to the arts. Rap music was my storytelling. I didn’t speak English at the time but it was the beginning of my passion for it – Tupac, The Fugees, so many artists. When rap music grew in popularity in France I was able to fall even more in love with it with French being one of many languages spoken in Congo. I could tell from the lyrics what it was like in the streets of Marseille and Paris even though I had never been. Just from the lyrics.

When I wanted to go to university the war in Congo meant I had to go to South Africa to study. That’s where I found photography. Because of my love of storytelling it didn’t feel different to me to find a new art form that made me feel the same way.

WOU: 
What would you say your photography is about? What are the messages you are trying to convey with your work?

Robert:
Firstly, I wanted to talk about my country – the Republic of Congo. Most times you hear about Congo they are talking about Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. I wanted to be able to show people who we are – what we look like, our struggles, and our joy.

My main love – my first love – was str...