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Abdoulaye Samaté

@_samate

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🎥 Dig Creator
🌍YALI Alumni | PDE @clemson
📍RVA + Dakar
🎞 Founder: @samatespixelstudio @sam_and_jo
Cofound 🔗 @afrocentric_journey

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What a night at Common House.

An evening of meaningful conversation, reflection, and connection around democracy, justice, reentry, and the role of storytelling in shaping how history is remembered.

Honored to share space with artist Abdou Karim Ndoye and everyone who joined us for a meaningful conversation that reminded us how art can preserve memory, spark dialogue, and connect people across stories and experiences.

Richmond, this is just the beginning.
Première Ligne / Frontline — April 2027.

#TheArcInstitute #FrontlineSalon #RichmondArts #Justice #Democracy ArtForChange taken in Common House Richmond by @_samate

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4 months ago

Honored to be part of the 2nd Annual African Diaspora Heritage Month celebration, a day of unity and action.

Big respect to (the uncle of the community) Djibril Niang for bringing our communities together, and to Senator Ghazala Hashmi and other leaders for standing with us.

Surrounded by people who build, protect, and connect; the web is strong. ✊🏾🌍

#Senegal #Africa #AfricanDiaspora #Leadership #RichmondVA #Community #RVA #JollofRice #Heritage #Culture #Empowerment by @_samate

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a year ago

Richmond VA to Charlotte, North Carolina. 🇸🇳

A day full of football, culture, community, and unforgettable moments.

Senegal vs USA through my lens.

Which photo is your favorite?

📍 @bofastadium

@fsfofficielle

#USAvSEN
#Senegal
#SportsPhotography taken in Bank Of America Stadium, Charlotte NC by @_samate

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4 months ago

Found another Richmond spot worth putting on the list. 👀🍜

Stopped by My Noodle & Bar and really enjoyed the experience, from the atmosphere to the food, everything made for a good night.

Good food, great presentation, and definitely the kind of place that makes you want to pull the camera out. 😂📸

Exploring more of Richmond one experience at a time.

📍 My Noodle & Bar | Richmond, VA
🍜 Thai Cuisine

What Richmond spot should I try next?

#RichmondVA #RichmondFood #RichmondEats #RVA #RVAfoodie RichmondRestaurants ThaiFood FoodReels LifestyleCreator ContentCreator taken in My Noodle & Bar by @_samate

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6 days ago

Honoring the people shaping the culture. 🏆✨

An incredible evening at The Culture Honors Awards Gala, celebrating the creatives, entrepreneurs, leaders, and community builders who continue to move Richmond forward.

There’s something special about documenting rooms like this, the people, the connections, the FASHIONNNN, the energy, and the moments that deserve to be remembered.

Congratulations to everyone who was recognized, and much respect to Culture Collective for continuing to create spaces that celebrate and strengthen the community.

📸 Captured by Samate’s Pixel Studio

Culture. Community. Legacy.

#TheCultureHonors #CultureConnectX #CultureCollective #804TheCulture #RichmondVA RVA RichmondCreatives EventPhotography RichmondPhotographer SamatesPixelStudio taken in Black Iris Social Club by @_samate

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8 days ago

📸 @_samate 😮‍💨🔥

The photos speak for themselves 😍 by @_samate

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10 days ago

Chicago in the background. Purpose in the foreground. 🌆

Walking the vision for what comes next.

Concrete, steel, and a little Senegalese flavor. 🇸🇳🔝

📸 @akphotosn

📍Chicago

#Chicago #ChicagoPhotography #StreetPortrait #UrbanPortrait #MensStyle Senegalese CreativeJourney SamatesPixelStudio ShotBySamate taken in Downtown Chicago by @_samate

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20 days ago

Your wedding day happens once. The memories should last forever. 🤍📸🤍

I had the privilege of documenting this beautiful wedding surrounded by family, friends, love, laughter, and so many genuine moments.

What I love about wedding photography is that it’s not only about the portraits. It’s the hands held during the ceremony, the emotions, the embraces, the family gathered together, and those little moments happening when nobody realizes the camera is there.

Those are the photographs that become part of a family’s story. 🤍

Congratulations to the newlyweds, and thank you for trusting Samate’s Pixel Studio to capture such an important day. 💍

Planning your wedding? I’m currently accepting wedding photography inquiries in the DMV and beyond.

💌 DM me “WEDDING” to talk about your day and check availability.

#RichmondWeddingPhotographer #VirginiaWeddingPhotographer #RichmondWeddings #VirginiaWeddings #WeddingPhotography WeddingPhotographer WeddingStory RichmondVA WeddingInspiration SamatesPixelStudio taken in DMV by @_samate

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24 days ago

Chicago through my lens. 📍🏙️

Between the architecture, the movement, the people and the energy of the city, I had to make time to capture a little of what caught my eye.

Just me, my camera, and a few moments from the Windy City. 🎥✨

#Chicago #ChicagoThroughMyLens #VisualStorytelling #Cinematography #ContentCreator SamatesPixelStudio taken in Chicago, Illinois by @_samate

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a month ago

When art enters the classroom, the conversation can go anywhere. 📸🇸🇳

AKN and The Arc Institute Global team, Tevera Stith and Abdoulaye Samate joined artist, activist, and extraordinary educator Zulu Malandela and his students at KIPP DC College Preparatory High School in Northeast Washington, DC for a powerful exchange.

Through AKN’s photographs, students explored Senegal’s historic 2024 presidential election and the youth-led movement that helped reshape the country’s political future, but the conversation quickly went beyond photography.

Freedom. Democracy. Resistance. Liberation. The power of young people to shape history.

And one question that stayed with us:

Who really owns the flag? the government or the people?

From there, we wrestled with questions even bigger than the photographs themselves: Who gets to tell the story of a movement? What does freedom look like through the lens of young people? And how can art become an instrument of liberation?

We came to share photographs. We left reminded of what happens when art, history, activism, and education meet in the same classroom.

Deep gratitude to Zulu and the brilliant KIPP DC College Prep students for welcoming us and making space for a rich and unforgettable exchange.

Première Ligne / First Line: A People’s Witness
Richmond, Virginia · April 2, 2027

📍 Washington, DC
🔗 arcinstituteglobal.org
#PremiereLigne #TheArcInstitute #AbdouKarimNdoye #Senegal #Photography ArtAndActivism Democracy WashingtonDC YouthActivism KIPPDC taken in KIPP DC College Preparatory PCS by @_samate

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a month ago

AFROFEST 2026 🌍📸

It was truly an honor to be trusted by the African Community Network (ACN) to capture their biggest annual event. 🙏🏾📸

What a celebration of Africa, culture, community, and the diaspora right here in Richmond! 🇺🇸🌍

African countries from across the continent were represented alongside our Caribbean and African American communities, bringing together culture, music, fashion, food, art, and people from all walks of life.

With the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia @ltgovhashmi , the Mayor of Richmond @dannyavula @rvamayorsoffice , community leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, families, and so many others in attendance, AfroFest once again showed why it is one of Richmond’s biggest celebrations of African culture.

So many beautiful moments. So many cultures. One community.

We are thankful to the ACN President, Zakaria Konaté.

This is AfroFest. ❤️🌍

📸 ©Samate @samatespixelstudio

#AfroFest #AfroFestRVA #AfroFest2026 #RichmondVA #RVA AfricanDiaspora AfricanCulture AfricanCommunity AfricanCommunityNetwork AfricaInRichmond BlackCulture VirginiaEvents RVAEvents SamatePhotography taken in Richmond Raceway by @_samate

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a month ago

We were in the room. 🎙️🇸🇳

On August 17, The Arc Institute presented *The Arc from Prison to Palace: A Global Lens on Justice, Resistance, and Reentry* at the APPA 51st Annual Training Institute in Chicago, a selective program, and the premier gathering for community corrections professionals in the United States. The conference drew leaders from across the country and across Chicago, among them @chicagosmayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois State Senator @elgie_sims Jr.

Photographer and special advisor to Senegal’s President brought his work before American probation and parole officers for the first time, telling the story of Senegal’s 2021–2024 democratic movement in French and Wolof. Abdoulaye Samate interpreted live and presented alongside him. Aisha Bullard presented, led, and facilitated the discussion. It was very engaging.

We were honored to have APPA President @marcusmhodges and members of the Board of Directors in the room.

The session traced one arc: from the streets of Dakar, to a prison cell, to the presidential palace 10 days between a release from prison and an election.

Then we asked the room to hold it against their own work:

*A photograph captures a moment. A case file captures a history. A risk assessment predicts a probability. None of them contains the future.*

Everyone left with a card and one question in their own handwriting: **What will you carry back?**

Thank you, APPA. Thank you, Chicago.

*Première Ligne / First Line: A People’s Witness* — U.S. Premiere, Richmond, Virginia, April 2, 2027.
🔗 arcinstituteglobal.org · Photography © Abdou Karim Ndoye

#APPA2026 #PrisonToPalace #PremiereLigne #TheArcInstitute #CommunityCorrections ReentryReimagined Senegal Chicago taken in Hyatt Regency Chicago by @_samate

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a month ago