Artist

Nauld Adjahuime

François Arnaud Adjahuime, known as Nauld. Photographer and visual artist, born in 1992 in Cotonou, Benin, where he lives and works.

Biography

Nauld Adjahuime in front of the musée du quai Branly, Paris — Musée du quai Branly, Paris, 2026

His practice sits at the meeting point of contemporary photography, visual experimentation and sensitive storytelling.

Through series built as crossings, he explores the passages between the visible and the invisible, presence and its imprint, matter and memory. Rooted in the cultural, social and spiritual realities of Benin, his approach draws on rituals, landscapes, nights, bodies and the textures of everyday life. Yet his images seek neither to document nor to illustrate a heritage: they offer a visual experience in which the line between figuration and abstraction becomes porous.

A photographer since 2017 and an artist since 2018, he studied human and economic geography and sociology at the University of Abomey-Calavi. His series Mouvement Sacré des Âmes, Zangbéto, Nature Divinité and Vibration Côtière are brought together in his first book, Présences (2026). A finalist of the 2024 Ellipse Prize, he has shown his work in Benin, Senegal and France. In 2026, the Odyssée residency at the Saline royale d'Arc-et-Senans opened a new chapter, devoted to architecture.

In 2024 he founded Galeries Nauld, an online gallery devoted to contemporary African photography, which promotes his projects and those of other Beninese photographers. He also works as a filmmaker, making art films that extend his visual language, and leads photography workshops for young people, craftspeople and institutions.

Nauld Adjahuime with a Zangbéto, Porto-Novo — Porto-Novo, Zangbéto series

Nauld Adjahuime at the Saline royale d'Arc-et-Senans — Saline royale d'Arc-et-Senans, 2026

Nauld Adjahuime presenting a work from Mouvement Sacré des Âmes, Maison Rouge, Cotonou — Ellipse Prize finalists' exhibition, Maison Rouge, Cotonou, 2024

Nauld Adjahuime in front of a work made for the Polyclinique Les Cocotiers — Presentation of the works made for the Polyclinique Les Cocotiers, 2026

Author's note, Présences

For a long time I thought I was photographing subjects. The years have taught me that I was photographing something else. I photograph what remains.

A presence within a movement. A memory within a material. An emotion left in a landscape. A trace left by a being, a gesture or a time gone by.

As a Beninese artist, I want to contribute to a contemporary writing of African stories. A writing that is limited neither to testimony nor to exoticism, but that affirms the capacity of our lands, our traditions and our experiences to produce universal forms of reflection, poetry and creation.

François Arnaud Adjahuime, Nauld · Cotonou, 2026

Career

Milestones

Residencies

2026 – 2027Regards Croisés Québec-Bénin international residency, Afro-Musée de Montréal. Act 1 in Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi from 21 October 2026, then Montreal
2026Odyssée research residency (ACCR, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture), Saline royale d'Arc-et-Senans, France. Project Vestiges Sacrés: Murmures du Temps
2019, 2020Art South residency, LEEP Philanthropy, Ouidah, Benin

Exhibitions

2026Ellipse Prize 5th anniversary exhibition, 62 rue Charlot, Paris
2026AKAA, Also Known As Africa, Paris
2026Permanent installation of six works, Polyclinique Les Cocotiers, Cotonou. Murals by Global Street Art based on his photographs
2025ECOFEST, Galerie nationale, Dakar, Senegal (Mouvement Sacré des Âmes)
2024Ellipse Prize finalists' exhibition, Maison Rouge, Cotonou
2024L'Imprévu, Cotonou
2022, 2023Institut français du Bénin, Cotonou

Prizes and awards

2025Laureate of the Odyssée programme (ACCR)
2024Finalist, Ellipse Art Projects Prize (Mouvement Sacré des Âmes)
2019, 2023Finalist, European Union Photography Prize in Benin

Publications

2026Présences, first book, bringing together four series (2022 to 2025)
2024Mouvement Sacré des Âmes, limited-edition artist's book

Talks

2026“Contemporary photography, Vodun and Beninese memory”, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, United States

Education

2022Certificate “Challenges and perspectives of African heritage”, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
2012 – 2015Human and economic geography, and sociology, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin

References

Press and online presence

He can be found under his artist name, Nauld Adjahuime, and under his full name, François Arnaud Adjahuime.

Working together

Exhibition, residency, commission, publishing, press or acquisition: write to me. The book Présences and the series portfolios are sent on request.

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