Joana Choumali, born in 1974 in Abidjan is a freelance photographer based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. She uses photography to explore issues of identity and the diversity of African cultures.
She works primarily with conceptual portraiture, mixed media and documentary forms. She uses her work as a means to explore the intricate identities of those around her. With a thematic focus on the African continent, her work aims to disrupt erroneous preconceptions of a homogenous, continent-wide identity. Choumali is also concerned with issues of gender, and the supposed binary between tradition and modernity. In her series ça va aller.. (it will be ok), she expresses the trauma and psychological suffering endured by the inhabitants of Bassam after the terrorist attacks in March 2016.