# Maurice Pellosh

Maurice Bidilou, also known as Pellosh, was a Congolese portrait photographer (15 August 1951 — 25 May 2023).
He produced small and medium format photographs capturing Congolese society in the early 1970s to mid 1990s.
In 2016, he closed his studio. He gained newfound recognition in 2021 after a series of solo shows. Aged 70, he was finally recognised as one of the last living masters of African photography.

## Early years

Maurice Pellosh was born into a family of farmers in the southern rural area of Bouansa (Congo-Brazzaville).
In middle school, he chose the nickname "Pellosh" after the word "pelloche", the slang equivalent to film.
Maurice Pellosh moved to Pointe-Noire at the age of seventeen with his brother.
After working a few odd jobs to sustain himself, he decided to pursue photography studies with the support of his uncle.
In 1971, he started an apprenticeship at Studio Janot Père in exchange for a demijohn of wine, a chicken, a bunch of bananas, and 20,000 CFA francs.
He spent twenty months studying and practicing the principles of light, shadows and nuances.

## Photographic career

Officially a trained photographer in 1973, he ordered his first camera from France: a 6x6 Yashica mat-124 G. He worked as a wandering photographer in the Mayombe area, capturing rural life.
He opened his studio, Studio Pellosh, in Pointe-Noire on December 17, 1973.
The studio was located in the Rex area close to the Central Market and Grand mosque. The Sape culture was booming at the time. Studio Pellosh soon gained in popularity and became a place where families, friends, and sapeurs came for a sit in, dressed in their best attire.
Among them was the renowned writer Alain Mabanckou,who was photographed at the age of nine.
Portraiture became a symbol of pride and emancipation in Congo-Brazzaville after the country gained its independence. In the evenings, Pellosh continued to cruise bars, ballrooms and concert halls to capture nightlife scenes.
From the 1980s, analog films become rare in Congo-Brazzaville. Maurice Pellosh moved away from black and white photography to color. The civil war in the late 1990s and the rise of digital photography in the 2000s saw a declining interest in studio photography, and Maurice Pellosh finally closed his studio in 2016.
Over the span of 40 years, Maurice Pellosh captured thousands of portraits and scenes of a vibrant Congolese society.

## Late recognition and legacy

In 2019, Pellosh met curator Emmanuèle Béthery in Pointe-Noire through a mutual friend. She was immediately captivated by the yellowed photographs he presented to her, recognising the poignant testimony of a joyful past era.
Soon after, she visited Pellosh in his home equipped with a lightbox. Together they began sorting the thousands of 6x6 negatives kept in Kodak boxes for nearly 50 years, decaying from damp and humidity. The photographs revealed faces young and old, portraits of lovers, families and sapeurs.
A first exhibition " Flash B(l)ack" was held in Paris in June 2021.
A second exhibition "From West to East", the first on the African continent, took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in October 2022.
Pellosh's photos were presented at the African Book fair (Salon du Livre Africain) in September 2021 in Paris.
A third exhibition, "Faces to Faces", took place in June 2023 in Paris.
"Pause Congolaise", the fourth exhibition, was held in May 2024 in Paris, as part of "Traversées Africaines".
Pellosh's work was showcased through a screening and presentation at the 16th edition of the " Nuits Photographiques de Pierrevert" in July 2024.
A documentary film "Maurice Pellosh, Capturing Memory", was completed in July 2024. The documentary was selected for " Ecrans Noirs Film Festival" October 2024 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. And for the "Abuja Film Festival" in Abuja, Nigéria.
The work of Pellosh is becoming known in the United States and across Europe.
Photographs by Pellosh feature in a five-year traveling exhibition across three continents, organized by the National Muséum of African American History and Culture, NMAAHC (Smithsonian) in Washington, starting in December 2024.
The Photographic Archives Department of the "Bibliothèque de France" acquired 10 Pellosh photographs of in January 2025.
Photographs by Pellosh were showcased in an exhibition dedicated to Congolese Rumba, titled "Café Rumba", in partnership with the Royal Muséum for Central Africa, (Tervuren) in Bruxelles, Belgium, in March 2025.
Photographs by Pellosh were offered for sale at contemporary auctions at Drouot Auction House (Paris) in November 2023, June 2024 and July 2024. at an auction organized during the Arles Photographic Meetings.