AIDA MULUNEH STUDIO x WINDSOR GALLERY
PRESENTS
Africa Collection
Bringing the world to Africa and taking Africa to the world through images.
December 8, 2022 – January 21, 2023
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
December 8, 2022 – January 21, 2023
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
©Fatoumata Diabate
I planted the roots of Africa Foto Fair in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2010. The main objective of that first biannual festival—then known as Addis Foto Fest—was to develop talent from within the country and across Africa. We engaged the international photography market to offer education, exhibitions, and exchange through images.
After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, we are launching the Africa Foto Fair as an extension of the same mission that I started twelve years ago—with an even broader mission. By launching the Africa Foto Fair in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, our objective is to bridge an exchange between East and West Africa. Having had the opportunity to work with photographers in Senegal, Mali, South Africa, and the United States of America, I encountered barriers in language, culture and perception that has obscured our view of the creative richness of Africa. It was important for me not to only develop another cultural event in the West African landscape, but to also establish an online publication to extend the physical event into a global audience, and to continue the conversation unconstrained by physical or cultural boundaries. This online publication bridges the shifting global markets and emerging photography talents from Africa and beyond.
One of the fair’s key elements is the establishment in Abidjan of the photography printing facility “Africa Print House.” I and many photographers on the continent struggle to access international standardized printing facilities, which are often limited to only a few regions in Africa. Thus, it was just as important to provide printing services to professional photographers while also utilizing the online platform as a space to offer print sales. This also gives the global audience access to emerging talents from Africa and the Global South. In essence, my priority is to set up a base to address the core elements: education, exhibition opportunities and services. This will shift the trajectory of photography from Africa into the international market.
Join me on this exciting journey as we navigate a new frontier in collaboration and exchange through images and creativity by taking Africa to the world and bringing the world to Africa.
Aida Muluneh
Fonder/ Director
Africa Foto Fair | Aida Muluneh Studio
I planted the roots of Africa Foto Fair in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2010. The main objective of that first biannual festival—then known as Addis Foto Fest—was to develop talent from within the country and across Africa. We engaged the international photography market to offer education, exhibitions, and exchange through images.
After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, we are launching the Africa Foto Fair as an extension of the same mission that I started twelve years ago—with an even broader mission. By launching the Africa Foto Fair in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, our objective is to bridge an exchange between East and West Africa. Having had the opportunity to work with photographers in Senegal, Mali, South Africa, and the United States of America, I encountered barriers in language, culture and perception that has obscured our view of the creative richness of Africa. It was important for me not to only develop another cultural event in the West African landscape, but to also establish an online publication to extend the physical event into a global audience, and to continue the conversation unconstrained by physical or cultural boundaries. This online publication bridges the shifting global markets and emerging photography talents from Africa and beyond.
One of the fair’s key elements is the establishment in Abidjan of the photography printing facility “Africa Print House.” I and many photographers on the continent struggle to access international standardized printing facilities, which are often limited to only a few regions in Africa. Thus, it was just as important to provide printing services to professional photographers while also utilizing the online platform as a space to offer print sales. This also gives the global audience access to emerging talents from Africa and the Global South. In essence, my priority is to set up a base to address the core elements: education, exhibition opportunities and services. This will shift the trajectory of photography from Africa into the international market.
Join me on this exciting journey as we navigate a new frontier in collaboration and exchange through images and creativity by taking Africa to the world and bringing the world to Africa.
Aida Muluneh
Fonder/ Director
Africa Foto Fair | Aida Muluneh Studio
Exhibiting Photographers
Browse exhibiting photographers from Africa.
Exhibiting Photographers
Browse exhibiting photographers from africa

Abdo Shanan
Algeria

Abdo Shanan
Algeria
Abdo Shanan was born in 1982 in Oran, Algeria to a Sudanese father and an Algerian mother. Abdo studied Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Sirte, Libya until 2006. In 2012, he undertook an internship at Magnum Photos Paris, which gave him the opportunity to reflect on his photographic approach. In 2015, Abdo received a nomination for Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund, the Same year he co-founded collective220, a collective for Algerian photographers. A year later in 2016 his series 'Diary:Exile' was selected by the Addis Fotofest. Abdo in 2019 won The CAP Prize(Contemporary African Photography) for his project “Dry”, in the same year he is selected for Joop Swart Masterclass by World Press Photo. In 2020, he is a winner of The Premi Mediterrani Albert Camus Incipiens, In the same year he co-curated “Narratives from Algeria” at Pasquar Photoforum in Bienne, Switzerland. In 2022, he is one of Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Awards for his project “A Little Louder”.
Dry
I was born in Algeria to an Algerian mother and a Sudanese father. When I was nine, my family moved to Libya, where I then spent 18 years of my life convincing myself I was Algerian, while my father kept insisting I was Sudanese. At the age 28, I decided to make Algeria my home and it was only then that I began questioning my idea of belonging. I felt like an island in the middle of a society with which I didn’t have as much in common as I thought I did. How is it possible for an island to exist in the middle of an ocean? Is it because the island’s dry soil is strong enough to impose itself against the water surrounding it, or is the ocean merely tolerating the presence and existence of the island? Or is it a relationship of compromise in which both sides renounce part of their claim to the other in order to co-exist? “Dry” is about all the islands I’ve encountered over the years. Lamia, who left Algeria for France at 6, had been visiting each summer until she reached adulthood and her relationship with Algerian society turned more complex. Or M’mmar, who has been living in the diaspora for 45 years, and who will only return to die and be buried in Algeria, “because it is good to die there.” With “Dry” I want to make you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I want you to doubt everything you’ve been told about national identity and what it means to “belong”. For what do these social constructs mean anyway?
Dry

I was born in Algeria to an Algerian mother and a Sudanese father. When I was nine, my family moved to Libya, where I then spent 18 years of my life convincing myself I was Algerian, while my father kept insisting I was Sudanese. At the age 28, I decided to make Algeria my home and it was only then that I began questioning my idea of belonging. I felt like an island in the middle of a society with which I didn’t have as much in common as I thought I did. How is it possible for an island to exist in the middle of an ocean? Is it because the island’s dry soil is strong enough to impose itself against the water surrounding it, or is the ocean merely tolerating the presence and existence of the island? Or is it a relationship of compromise in which both sides renounce part of their claim to the other in order to co-exist? “Dry” is about all the islands I’ve encountered over the years. Lamia, who left Algeria for France at 6, had been visiting each summer until she reached adulthood and her relationship with Algerian society turned more complex. Or M’mmar, who has been living in the diaspora for 45 years, and who will only return to die and be buried in Algeria, “because it is good to die there.” With “Dry” I want to make you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I want you to doubt everything you’ve been told about national identity and what it means to “belong”. For what do these social constructs mean anyway?

Ahmed Gaber
Egypt

Ahmed Gaber
Egypt
Ahmed Gaber is a freelance photographer and self-taught visual artist currently based in Egypt. He completed a Bachelor’s degree at Alexandria University, and is currently interested in the role of visual media in shaping society today, as well as how visual media can be utilised to capture and share the largely untold, everyday narratives and experiences of the Egyptian people.
When in search of stories, Gaber continues to engage in communities, both new and familiar, with sincere curiosity and compassion. He considers his work to be a direct and honest reflection of the people, stories, and places he photographs. Ultimately they all became his central inspiration
Gaber’s work has been showcased on virtual media platforms and exhibitions globally, including The Arab Street, presented by the Gulf Photos Plus (Dubai Centre for Photography, 2017) and the youth section of the Sony World Photography Awards (Somerset House, 2016).
Gaber was also a recipient of the Arab Documentary Photography Program, hosted and run by the Magnum Foundation, where he began crafting a long-term project that focuses on water and the adverse health effects on the villages along the Nile Delta due to contamination of the river.
The Nile Delta
The Nile Delta is the end of the longest river in the world and home to almost half of Egypt's population that work in the Agriculture sector and rely primarily on the water of the Nile to irrigate their land. Due to the rapidly increasing levels of pollution in the Nile Delta, caused largely by sewage drainage, garbage dumping, industrial waste run-off and poor water infrastructure management, farmers struggle to reach clean water that is sufficient to irrigate their land. Many of the Delta residents suffer from a number of diseases such as kidney failure that result from the contamination of their water. Egypt is currently experiencing severe inflation in population that is expected to double by the year 2050. The increasing population would need more fertile soil, to accommodate their needs and much more fresh water for drinking and irrigation. In the year 1940, the water availability was 90 cubic feet per capita per year, this ratio has decreased to the third and the Egyptian government expects this ratio to decrease dramatically in the coming years. In addition, the rising sea levels compound the negative effects felt by the farmers of the Delta, as the mixing of the saltwater and freshwater (used for irrigation) causes harm to the soil. It is expected for the sea level to rise another 3 feet this century, this rise in sea level would cause a large part of the Delta to be uncultivable. The environmental issues listed above, have far-reaching effects as thousands of miles away from Egypt’s Delta, work are ongoing on the construction of the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia that will inevitably cause a drop in Egypt’s share of the water when the storage process begins, which in turn causes a lot of stress for the Delta farmers.
The Nile Delta

The Nile Delta is the end of the longest river in the world and home to almost half of Egypt's population that work in the Agriculture sector and rely primarily on the water of the Nile to irrigate their land. Due to the rapidly increasing levels of pollution in the Nile Delta, caused largely by sewage drainage, garbage dumping, industrial waste run-off and poor water infrastructure management, farmers struggle to reach clean water that is sufficient to irrigate their land. Many of the Delta residents suffer from a number of diseases such as kidney failure that result from the contamination of their water. Egypt is currently experiencing severe inflation in population that is expected to double by the year 2050. The increasing population would need more fertile soil, to accommodate their needs and much more fresh water for drinking and irrigation. In the year 1940, the water availability was 90 cubic feet per capita per year, this ratio has decreased to the third and the Egyptian government expects this ratio to decrease dramatically in the coming years. In addition, the rising sea levels compound the negative effects felt by the farmers of the Delta, as the mixing of the saltwater and freshwater (used for irrigation) causes harm to the soil. It is expected for the sea level to rise another 3 feet this century, this rise in sea level would cause a large part of the Delta to be uncultivable. The environmental issues listed above, have far-reaching effects as thousands of miles away from Egypt’s Delta, work are ongoing on the construction of the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia that will inevitably cause a drop in Egypt’s share of the water when the storage process begins, which in turn causes a lot of stress for the Delta farmers.

Ali Fareed Greef
South Africa

Ali Fareed Greef
South Africa
Ali Fareed Greef is photojournalist, and documentary photographer, living and working in Eldorado Park (Johannesburg, South Africa). His first name was derived from his mother’s maiden name while his middle name features the name of his father, and he is the last Greeff in his bloodline.
His stories cover different aspects of community life from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
Ali’s ancestry ranges from Javanese slaves to Indian merchants; his father, a convert and the son of a pastor. With a strong tie to community, family, and the unseen bonds that bind us all, Greef’s brother became his brother two days prior to marrying his sister. His is a strong spiritual belief which dictates that “Heaven lies at the feet of my mother”.
His mother’s feet have been blessed to have walked around the Kaaba and his maternal grandmother has completed all five pillars of Islam. When he lost his grandfather, Ali assumed the role of a godfather.
Eldorado Park
Eldorado Park is a 'coloured' township to the south of Johannesburg (South Africa), it was established as a suburb of Soweto according to the Group Areas Act (1965) under the apartheid government. During the forced removals of all non-whites out of the city center in the name of racial segregation, Greef’s grandparents were moved to Eldorado Park. More than fifty years later, life as we know it is rapidly changing, with immediate access to global news and social media, he finds himself astonished at how life remains largely unchanging in Eldorado Park. Eldorado Park is located around 20 km from the city center, with its people isolated from opportunities that exist in wealthier areas of the city, just out of reach of the community of Eldorado Park. Unemployment is rife and a life of crime is the only way for some of the community member to survive and provide for their families. Since the COVID19 lockdown, Greef has been focussed on an area of Old Eldos in Eldorado Park. While most of his immediate family are scattered around the suburbs of Johannesburg, he and his aunt have been drawn "home" to spend time with his grandmother in quarantine. Eldorado Park is notorious for drugs and gangsterism and is a hotspot for the stolen car industry. The SANDF was deployed to Eldorado Park in 2009 after a letter was sent to president Jacob Zuma. This operation was similar to that of the SANDF to 16 areas of the Cape Flats.
Eldorado Park

Eldorado Park is a 'coloured' township to the south of Johannesburg (South Africa), it was established as a suburb of Soweto according to the Group Areas Act (1965) under the apartheid government. During the forced removals of all non-whites out of the city center in the name of racial segregation, Greef’s grandparents were moved to Eldorado Park. More than fifty years later, life as we know it is rapidly changing, with immediate access to global news and social media, he finds himself astonished at how life remains largely unchanging in Eldorado Park. Eldorado Park is located around 20 km from the city center, with its people isolated from opportunities that exist in wealthier areas of the city, just out of reach of the community of Eldorado Park. Unemployment is rife and a life of crime is the only way for some of the community member to survive and provide for their families. Since the COVID19 lockdown, Greef has been focussed on an area of Old Eldos in Eldorado Park. While most of his immediate family are scattered around the suburbs of Johannesburg, he and his aunt have been drawn "home" to spend time with his grandmother in quarantine. Eldorado Park is notorious for drugs and gangsterism and is a hotspot for the stolen car industry. The SANDF was deployed to Eldorado Park in 2009 after a letter was sent to president Jacob Zuma. This operation was similar to that of the SANDF to 16 areas of the Cape Flats.

Ali Zaraay
Egypt

Ali Zaraay
Egypt
Ali Zaraay is an Egyptian visual artist and photojournalist, currently based in Cairo. He studied in Hochschule Hannover's International Program of Documentary and Photojournalism (2020), and has worked as a press photographer at numerous Egyptian newspapers for a large part of the last decade.
After witnessing the Egyptian uprisings in 2011, Zaraay discovered his passion for photojournalism, and became interested in covering Egyptian daily life in a different way. He moves between the North and South of Egypt, through villages and cities as produces projects which attempt to address cultural and social issues.
His long-term ongoing visual ethnography is centred on Nomadic Bedouins of Egypt, which takes the form of a web documentary. Zaraay adopts a shared anthropological approach, in which the work is produced with the people, rather than about the people. Ali’s current interests lie in interactive installations and public exhibitions, with a focus on the changing of city spaces through demolition, construction and resulting displacement.
“Qwesna; A Sweet Memory” Egyptian Nomads
This project takes the Nomadic Bedouins in Egypt as its focus. Zaraay was able to see a part of himself in the journey, struggle, instability of the Bedouins as a shared quest for self-realisation. This photographic project therefore asks, what makes a lifestyle of constant re-location worthwhile? Zaraay states: “We both crawl on dust; we are struggling in our continuous movement following something as unstable and uncertain as dust. I have befriended and accompanied the families of some of these Nomads and have seen the hardships of their constant journeys. We envy each other's lives; they are looking to settle and I am looking for movement. Some of the Bedouins tried to settle in adjacent villages, but a settled life was not where they found home or satisfaction, the majority came back to the nomadic life. A constant journey is their home and sense of freedom despite all its hardships.” Zaraay is interested in exploring the reasons that the millennial Nomads choose their nomadic lifestyle. They are - unlike previous generations - more exposed to the outside world, spending time in local coffee shops, keeping up-to-date with international news, politics and sports; but always return to their tents each night to continue their travels with the Nomadic Bedouins. There is an interplay between the photographer who dreams to have a nomadic lifestyle and perhaps lives his dream vicariously through the lens , and the young Bedouins who dream to settle but always return to a life of movement and migration.
“Qwesna; A Sweet Memory” Egyptian Nomads

This project takes the Nomadic Bedouins in Egypt as its focus. Zaraay was able to see a part of himself in the journey, struggle, instability of the Bedouins as a shared quest for self-realisation. This photographic project therefore asks, what makes a lifestyle of constant re-location worthwhile? Zaraay states: “We both crawl on dust; we are struggling in our continuous movement following something as unstable and uncertain as dust. I have befriended and accompanied the families of some of these Nomads and have seen the hardships of their constant journeys. We envy each other's lives; they are looking to settle and I am looking for movement. Some of the Bedouins tried to settle in adjacent villages, but a settled life was not where they found home or satisfaction, the majority came back to the nomadic life. A constant journey is their home and sense of freedom despite all its hardships.” Zaraay is interested in exploring the reasons that the millennial Nomads choose their nomadic lifestyle. They are - unlike previous generations - more exposed to the outside world, spending time in local coffee shops, keeping up-to-date with international news, politics and sports; but always return to their tents each night to continue their travels with the Nomadic Bedouins. There is an interplay between the photographer who dreams to have a nomadic lifestyle and perhaps lives his dream vicariously through the lens , and the young Bedouins who dream to settle but always return to a life of movement and migration.

Alice Kayinanda
Rwanda

Alice Kayinanda
Rwanda
Alice Kayinanda is a Kigali based self-taught- photographer. Ever since her childhood, she loved looking at photographs. Eventually she took up photography after working several years in office. She has a penchant for capturing people in their environment and telling their stories to various audiences through compelling visual storytelling. Alice works on various projects in Rwanda and abroad, with clients ranking from NGOs to governmental organizations, small business and individuals.
Life In Shadow
Life in the shadow: Life in the shadow is a long-term project on people with albinism and their families. I follow three women, their children, and two young boys that are in a boarding school. The subjects lived some kind of discrimination in their lives. I capture their images in their daily lives and write stories about them.
Life In Shadow


Amanuel Seleshi
Ethiopia

Amanuel Seleshi
Ethiopia
Amanuel Sileshi is photojournalist based in Ethiopia, he began his career in photography in 2016 mostly documenting his own community.
Sileshi currently works as a stringer for Agence France-Presse (AFP) and is a member of the African Photojournalism Database for World Press Photo, where he mostly covers the human impact of conflicts and political reform.
Sileshi states: “Photojournalism is a tool in which we can tell a particular reality in one singular photo”.
He won 3rd place in East African Photography Award (2021) for a project entitled Heroes of the ghost war, on Covid-19 survivors and their doctors, and has participated in the 2021 edition of the Canon Student Development Programme.
Searching For Peace Amidst Chaos
The Nile Delta is the end of the longest river in the world and home to almost half of Egypt's population that work in the Agriculture sector and rely primarily on the water of the Nile to irrigate their land.
Due to the rapidly increasing levels of pollution in the Nile Delta, caused largely by sewage drainage, garbage dumping, industrial waste run-off and poor water infrastructure management, farmers struggle to reach clean water that is sufficient to irrigate their land. Many of the Delta residents suffer from a number of diseases such as kidney failure that result from the contamination of their water.
Egypt is currently experiencing severe inflation in population that is expected to double by the year 2050. The increasing population would need more fertile soil, to accommodate their needs and much more fresh water for drinking and irrigation. In the year 1940, the water availability was 90 cubic feet per capita per year, this ratio has decreased to the third and the Egyptian government expects this ratio to decrease dramatically in the coming years. In addition, the rising sea levels compound the negative effects felt by the farmers of the Delta, as the mixing of the saltwater and freshwater (used for irrigation) causes harm to the soil. It is expected for the sea level to rise another 3 feet this century, this rise in sea level would cause a large part of the Delta to be uncultivable.
The environmental issues listed above, have far-reaching effects as thousands of miles away from Egypt’s Delta, work are ongoing on the construction of the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia that will inevitably cause a drop in Egypt’s share of the water when the storage process begins, which in turn causes a lot of stress for the Delta farmers.
Searching For Peace Amidst Chaos


Aron Simeneh
Ethiopia

Aron Simeneh
Ethiopia
Aron Simeneh is a photographer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His work mainly consists of portraits and documentary photography. Simeneh has been under the mentorship of Aida Muluneh, In addition, he has trained at the prestigious Nuku Studio in Accra, which was led by acclaimed Ghanian photographer Nii Obodai.
Simeneh's work focuses on revealing and portraying the untold stories around him and finding a new way to display his country's unique music and culture. Simeneh was part of a collective of local Ethiopian photographers under the name PIE (Photography in Ethiopia). Through the work he produced within this collective, Simeneh was able to showcase his works at notable exhibitions including New York Photoville, the 1:54 Art Fair in London, and two of Africa’s most prominent photography festivals the Bamako Biennial in Mali and the Joburg Art Fair in South Africa, curated by Aida Muluneh.
Simeneh had his first solo exhibition featuring his take on traditional Ethiopian dances titled Still in Motion and received second place in the 2016 Addis Foto Fest portfolio review. Most recently, Simeneh was invited to participate in the New York Times portfolio review in 2017 and selected as one of the eleven emerging photographers. For the past three years he has been working as the official photographer for the prime minister of Ethiopia and documenting the changes and activities in the country.
Azmaris
A photographic collection dedicated to the Azmaris – musicians famous for their musical ingenuity and lyrical wit – largely from a small village in northwestern Gondar called Burbax, Simeneh captures the history, tradition, heritage and the life-long journey of what it means to be an Azmari. In this photographic take of a musical world, Simeneh explores the coming-of-age of azmaris from childhood. Simeneh’s work tells the daily struggles of these musicians as they suffer some level of external and self-inflicted marginalization from the rest of society. Through pictures that depict various generations, Simeneh highlights the worries of the old Azmaris; that their traditions are under threat with the new generation not taking up the artform.
Azmaris


Aurélie Jocelyne Tiffy,
Côte d'Ivoire

Aurélie Jocelyne Tiffy,
Côte d'Ivoire
Aurélie Jocelyne Tiffy, whose real name is Toh Grah Aurélie Jocelyne Juliette, is a young Ivorian woman born in 1996 in Aboisso, in the south-east of Côte d'Ivoire, Aurélie grew up and did her primary education in Ayamé, a village located 136 kilometres from Abidjan. In 2015, she graduated with a degree in accounting management and developed a passion for artistic photography and audiovisual production. She received studies in visual communication at the École De Spécialités Multimédia d'Abidjan (ESMA) and obtained in 2017 the diploma of Superior Technician in visual communication. In January 2019, she obtained the diploma of graphic designer in post-production at the École De Spécialités Multimédia d'Abidjan (ESMA).
Inspired by Ivorian photographer Ly Lagazelle, who would later become her mentor; she develops the expressive potential and freedom that photography can offer. She starts to reflect through black and white photos through which she highlights everyday attitudes such as (courage, commitment, troubles, environment, wealth...) through different characters (children, youth, elderly) to express their feelings. In May 2018, she exhibited for the first time, during the 13th DAK'ART Biennale in Senegal, in OFF with the African Federation of Photographic Art (FAAP).
Back in Abidjan, she looked for a photography school and came across a post from the Donwahi Foundation which is giving a masterclass featuring photographer @aidamuluneh.
She took the course with other photographers. Aida Muluneh changes her view of Africa. She starts working on a project. In 2019, she exhibits at the Biennale africaine de la photographie/les Rencontres de Bamako. In 2020, at the Donwahi Foundation, she works on black-white and thinks that her photos deserve a special black-white treatment
Another Look At Abissa
Celebrated for more than three centuries, The Abissal festival takes place once every year in order to show the greatest respect for ancestral values and marks the beginning of the new year for the N'Zima people of the Akan group of Côte d'Ivoire.
For them it is the occasion to repent, to forgive and to pray to the gods for a sweet and prosperous new year.
After a few editions plagued by Covid-19, the Abissa festival was once again celebrated in October 2021, during the celebration my work was focused on youth and their emotions towards the Abissa festival, and captured in portraiture form.
Another Look At Abissa


Barnus Gbèkidé
Côte d'Ivoire

Barnus Gbèkidé
Côte d'Ivoire
GBEKIDE SEVI HERVE known as BARNUS gbèkidé is a contemporary art and documentary photographer whose artistic approach is based on memory, territory and mutations for the transmission of our collective heritage as well as a questioning on the passage of time of the worlds of life in relation to the human and social conscience.
Born in 1967 in Divo, Ivory Coast, he started photography in 1985 by following a direct training in a black and white laboratory photo studio in Azaguié, Ivory Coast.
In 1993, he followed a course on the photography of dance and live arts shows during the MASA (Marché des Arts et du Spectacle Africain) led by the ENGUERAND agency. He participated in workshops and courses of photography animated by renowned photographers among others ANDRE LUTZEN /Germany, ANA LEITOF Germany, CHERRYL KORALYK /America, PEP BONET/Spain.
In 2001, he was officially selected to exhibit at the Rencontres africaines de la photographie in Bamako, Mali.
In 2009, he participated in the photo exhibition Reflecting Africa at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Algiers (Mama) as part of the second Pan African Cultural Festival. In 2016, he received the first prize of author at the fortnight of photography in Benin and exhibited at the rotunda of contemporary arts in Abidjan in 2017.
Selected as a cultural expert and photographic artist to produce the photographs for the edition of the catalogue of artworks exhibited as part of the Francophonie games in Abidjan.
Then, several other individual and collective exhibitions in cultural centres in Abidjan (the Goethe Institute, the French Cultural Centre, the Museum of Civilization and the Gallery).
He is a permanent freelancer for the A.P. agency (Associated Press). He publishes in several international African and European magazines such as Jeune Afrique, libération, le monde, new york time etc... He is also a trainer of photographic workshops and promoter of the festipha (panafrican festival of art photography) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Some Things Africa
The face of a young woman with a floating gaze, in a chiaroscuro wearing a braid powerful symbol of African culture and identity that endures over time. “Looking at the other to allow me to look at myself”.
Some Things Africa

The face of a young woman with a floating gaze, in a chiaroscuro wearing a braid powerful symbol of African culture and identity that endures over time. “Looking at the other to allow me to look at myself”.

Bongani Ndlovu
South Africa

Bongani Ndlovu
South Africa
Bongani Ndlovu is a South African Photographer, born in Katlehong. He attended the Market Photo Workshop (2017 - 2018) where he completed all three tiers of their photographic program.
His work tackles issues of representation and stereotypes around black male bodies, and largely takes the form of portraits and self-portraits.
He was selected to participate in the RMB Talent Unlocked (2019), Turbine Art Fair (2019), Kampala Biennial 2020, Addis Foto Fest International Workshop and F-stop zine publication 2020.
Insizwa
Insizwa attempts to investigate the meaning of black masculinity without functioning as a toxic stereotype, Ndlovu undertakes this investigation as a rhetorical question, leaving room for multiple potential answers and explorations. There is a fascinating story about spiders which states that if you break the limbs of a spider, one by one, the spider will still move and eventually heal itself. However if you sever the head of the spider, it stops moving, loses support and eventually dies. Utilizing this story as a starting point, Ndlovu contemplates the difference between torture and murder, rushing to get a response will leave so much unattended and no healing will be done just a whole lot of death. If you are to consider a response, imagine both processes and choose how you want this story to go. This is not a violent tale, it is a journey of loss and walking bare into the remains of the unknown, clearing the debris. Imagine if you will, the inability of one to commit violence, ridding oneself of the head that thinks pain is the only way to learn a lesson. Imagine loosening the chains and stopping the blood from flowing. “Disappear...engage Chains...release Push...pull Ashes...Blood Dancing...mourning Black...Alive Man... Women...power Man... Trigger...Pause Push...pull Man...?? Trigger...Pause Pull...MAN???”
Insizwa

Insizwa attempts to investigate the meaning of black masculinity without functioning as a toxic stereotype, Ndlovu undertakes this investigation as a rhetorical question, leaving room for multiple potential answers and explorations. There is a fascinating story about spiders which states that if you break the limbs of a spider, one by one, the spider will still move and eventually heal itself. However if you sever the head of the spider, it stops moving, loses support and eventually dies. Utilizing this story as a starting point, Ndlovu contemplates the difference between torture and murder, rushing to get a response will leave so much unattended and no healing will be done just a whole lot of death. If you are to consider a response, imagine both processes and choose how you want this story to go. This is not a violent tale, it is a journey of loss and walking bare into the remains of the unknown, clearing the debris. Imagine if you will, the inability of one to commit violence, ridding oneself of the head that thinks pain is the only way to learn a lesson. Imagine loosening the chains and stopping the blood from flowing. “Disappear...engage Chains...release Push...pull Ashes...Blood Dancing...mourning Black...Alive Man... Women...power Man... Trigger...Pause Push...pull Man...?? Trigger...Pause Pull...MAN???”

Browyn Whitney Petersen
South Africa

Browyn Whitney Petersen
South Africa
Whitney Petersen (1994) currently works and resides in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2016 she completed her Diploma in Media Studies, specializing in Video. In 2018 and 2019 she completed the foundation, intermediate and advanced photography courses at the Market Photo Workshop and thereafter completed a course in Contemporary Art Practice at the Institute of Contemporary Art Practice (2021).
Petersen’s work comments on themes of identity and race, using photography and oil pastel drawings as preferred mediums to convey interconnected narratives. Personal experiences form the foundations and inform the intentions for her projects which involve ideas around socio-political constructions of belonging, race, identity and representation in a South African context, as well as more personal works around home and death. Through visual documentation of her narratives, she aims to create and engage in dialogues around the work.
Petersen has exhibited work at Through The Lens Collective – a photography workshop and exhibition space based in Johannesburg in shows which include; (In) Sight (2019) and The Portrait Show (2020). In 2021, she participated in the Presidential Stimulus Programme Student Exhibition, curated by Prof Elfriede Dreyer at edg2020 gallery in Pretoria, South Africa.
Wina Se Kind
My initial intention when I began making work for ‘Wina se kind’ was to respond to how I felt about my father’s passing. To reflect and explore themes of death and memory with images reflecting moments of reminiscence, space, time, melancholy and the state of relationships both at home and those around me. As the work grew, the more I would interrogate and think about the work, which then made me realize the work was not necessarily about this isolated feeling towards his passing, but rather an accumulation of feelings toward growing up and now adulthood. Dealing with relationships, situations and everyday encounters which make life… life. Memory is ephemeral and transcendental. To reflect or do some introspection, one has to refer back to past encounters to move forward and grow. Yet, memories are not as accurate and most likely are altered to make certain situations seem more fitting for ones own emotional comfort and sanity. These works speak to the rosy retrospection, the surreal world we all recreate for ourselves to make the fraught bits of life and our emotions towards certain memories less tragic to reminisce and ponder on. The process of making photographs becomes a form of therapy. This body of work gives life to my altered universe and has therefore become an autobiographical visual narrative. These photographs aim to visually and emotionally reflect what cannot physically be conveyed. They serve as the personal, yet tangible sentiment of a curated chaos. This is an autobiography. The beginning of a lifelong visual autobiography.
Wina Se Kind

My initial intention when I began making work for ‘Wina se kind’ was to respond to how I felt about my father’s passing. To reflect and explore themes of death and memory with images reflecting moments of reminiscence, space, time, melancholy and the state of relationships both at home and those around me. As the work grew, the more I would interrogate and think about the work, which then made me realize the work was not necessarily about this isolated feeling towards his passing, but rather an accumulation of feelings toward growing up and now adulthood. Dealing with relationships, situations and everyday encounters which make life… life. Memory is ephemeral and transcendental. To reflect or do some introspection, one has to refer back to past encounters to move forward and grow. Yet, memories are not as accurate and most likely are altered to make certain situations seem more fitting for ones own emotional comfort and sanity. These works speak to the rosy retrospection, the surreal world we all recreate for ourselves to make the fraught bits of life and our emotions towards certain memories less tragic to reminisce and ponder on. The process of making photographs becomes a form of therapy. This body of work gives life to my altered universe and has therefore become an autobiographical visual narrative. These photographs aim to visually and emotionally reflect what cannot physically be conveyed. They serve as the personal, yet tangible sentiment of a curated chaos. This is an autobiography. The beginning of a lifelong visual autobiography.

Sylla Cheik
Côte d'Ivoire

Sylla Cheik
Côte d'Ivoire
Artist photographer for 8 years, my name is Sylla Cheick and I live in Abidjan.
Attracted from a very young age by the digital world that attracted my curiosity and a little later by graphic art and photography, I decided to train in computer graphics just after graduating from high school in 2008 to make my profession.
In reality, it is the children and the Ivorian youth who have always been my engine and my source of inspiration in my work. I worked for 5 years with the American NGO Special Olympics, with the personal goal of informing and communicating through graphic art the fundamental role that sport plays in the development of intellectually disabled children. Self-taught photographer, I express my view on the youth of the Ivorian society through photographs in black and white mainly, which underline with force the expressions and emotions of the photographed subjects and which put the human in the foreground. It is from 2018 that I began to win several photography competitions - including one in partnership with the European Union in 2019 - which allowed me to exhibit some of my works in Abi- djan at the French Institute, the Rotonde des arts, the Sofitel, University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and the Pan-African Festival of Art Photography in Abidjan is a Festival to promote African photographic art. (FESTIPHA) But more important than that, my objective is to put graphic art at the service of the protection of strong values. That's why I am committed and work voluntarily or not for several associations that defend the rights of women, children, entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
Hunters Dozos
For the mission " Cote d'Ivoire profonde " I had to visit and take pictures of the great sites, and the cultural and tourist attractions of my country. The Dozo culture is one of the most remarkable of the North of the country, I speak to you about it. The Dozos are known as traditional hunters of the Mande communities, called "donsoton" in Malinké language which literally means association or groups of "DOZOS" recognizable by their outfit made of a set of pants and camisole and a beret cut in the bogolan (traditional fabric) surrounded by small mirrors and amulets.
The Dozos trace the birth of their brotherhood to the famous West African empire of Mali (known as the Mandingo Empire), which existed between the 13th and 14th centuries. The term "Dozo" is from the Bambara language and is defined as a pious institution, a body of elites united by a functional link that is cynégétique, that is to say, people who kill, collect or capture game alive with strict rules and surrounding themselves with social, cultural and spiritual practices and values. One becomes a dozo after an initiation process. This Mandingo cultural substratum has favored its expansion in a large part of West Africa. Perpetuated through time, the Dozo culture has survived colonization while keeping a certain vitality. In Côte d'Ivoire, the Dozo society has found its roots in the northern territories of the country, where the Mandingo (Malinke, Dioula, Koyaka) and assimilated people (Senufo...) have long been settled. The dozoya aims at transmitting a traditional, multi-secular and multidimensional know-how.
Hunters Dozos


David Maja Salako
Ghana

David Maja Salako
Ghana
David Maja Salako (28) is a self-taught Nigerian-Ghanaian photographer and digital marketing strategist, currently living and working in Ghana.
Salako was drawn to the medium of photography as a tool by which meaningful narratives, ideas, and the ideologies of others can be captured in a moment, a format in which buried truths can be captured, and their narratives explored.
Formally, his photography practice largely consists of portrait, street and abstract photographs which are mediums he uses as ways to explore the human condition and mental states. He is fascinated by people's beliefs, perceptions, religion, intrinsic culture and how all of these aspects play a role in varying the individual's state of mind and natural performance.
Outside With Everyone
“You live and you learn.” “Those words hit differently. Everything hit different. People feel different, I feel different. I wouldn’t know where to begin in describing how I arrived at this feeling, it’s just there and I welcome it. I am more mindful of my time and how I choose to spend it, I think we all are. The world has changed, I have changed. Life will move on and I will steer it in the direction I now know for the most part I want it to take. I went on a journey. I'm a traveler among other things. It was nurturing observing what others were doing. True, there is a virus going around in Ghana but right now, who cares? The places I’ve been, people I’ve met and things I’ve seen.
Outside With Everyone

“You live and you learn.” “Those words hit differently. Everything hit different. People feel different, I feel different. I wouldn’t know where to begin in describing how I arrived at this feeling, it’s just there and I welcome it. I am more mindful of my time and how I choose to spend it, I think we all are. The world has changed, I have changed. Life will move on and I will steer it in the direction I now know for the most part I want it to take. I went on a journey. I'm a traveler among other things. It was nurturing observing what others were doing. True, there is a virus going around in Ghana but right now, who cares? The places I’ve been, people I’ve met and things I’ve seen.

Dorris Haron Kasco
Côte d'Ivoire

Dorris Haron Kasco
Côte d'Ivoire
Born in 1966 in Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire, Dorris Haron Kasco works in Abidjan and France.
Between 1987 and 1989, Dorris Haron Kasco first devoted himself to fashion photography, at a time when Abidjan was discovering the talents of its stylists: "The couturier embellishes a body, it is the photographer's job to exalt it". He exhibited his first work in 1990, "La Femme masquée", then "Bassam la vieille" in 1991.
His exhibition "Ils sont fous, on s'en fout" (They're crazy, we don't care) presented at the French Cultural Centre in Abidjan in October 1993, then at the First Meeting of African Photography in Bamako in 1994 by the Revue Noire, which then published his book "Les Fous d'Abidjan" (The Fools of Abidjan), was the fruit of three years' work inaugurating research on the African city and its outcasts. He then worked for three years on the street children of Abidjan.
In view of his career, it would almost be a counter-photography that Dorris Haron Kasco proposes, since one would qualify the African photographic tradition - that of the studio and the markets, where the crowds come to be photographed in their best clothes - as participating in its uses of a culture of pomp, of the re-enchanted and of the social specular. There is no pose in these severe portraits of the Fous d'Abidjan, no patriarchal dignity, no staging that would adorn the social edifice with a seductive envelope. On the contrary, showing the other side of the coin, or rather its reverse, where the rejects of the modern African city are abandoned, means reworking the photographic codes, contaminating the spirit of bricolage that reigns in the studio. These silhouettes that we pass by, but do not want to see, are the other mirror of society. Figures that reflect it, looking beyond the camera, towards the illumination of an impossible recognition.
If Dorris Haron Kasco's approach is irreducibly artistic, it is because it gives the very "physical" manners and accents of these "madmen" of Abidjan the possibility of passing into our bodies.
The Madmen of Abidjan
The madmen of Abidjan, photographed by Dorris Haron Kasco, are ruthless witnesses of a denial of reality, worse, a blindness collectively maintained to reject, in the common places of the modern city such as bridges, streets, and crossroads, their night silhouettes. Though they exist, they are free to wander, this is the proof of a traditional tolerance, of understanding promiscuity to the foibles that shake them, of a singular solicitude of African societies for their loveless nakedness, their obscure words, their restless carcass. Dorris Haron Kasco was born in Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire, in 1966. His exhibition "Ils sont fous, on s'en fout" ("They are crazy, we don't care") presented in Abidjan in October 1993 is the product of three years of work on the African city and its left behind.
The Madmen of Abidjan

The madmen of Abidjan, photographed by Dorris Haron Kasco, are ruthless witnesses of a denial of reality, worse, a blindness collectively maintained to reject, in the common places of the modern city such as bridges, streets, and crossroads, their night silhouettes. Though they exist, they are free to wander, this is the proof of a traditional tolerance, of understanding promiscuity to the foibles that shake them, of a singular solicitude of African societies for their loveless nakedness, their obscure words, their restless carcass. Dorris Haron Kasco was born in Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire, in 1966. His exhibition "Ils sont fous, on s'en fout" ("They are crazy, we don't care") presented in Abidjan in October 1993 is the product of three years of work on the African city and its left behind.

Ebunoluwa Akinbo
Nigeria

Ebunoluwa Akinbo
Nigeria
Ebunoluwa Akinbo is a Nigerian Visual Artist and Documentary photographer with a background in Sociology. She is a mentee at the Nlele Institute, a member of the African Photojournalism Database and a member of the 1884 collective.
Her work is focused on exploring the societal narratives that encircle culture, identity and migration. Ebunoluwa believes that photography is not just about creating visually interesting images, it is about storytelling.
Ebunoluwa has won numerous local and international awards and has exhibited her work widely. She was the winner of the annual Fasola Photography Competition (2018), nominated for the Canon Storytelling Master Class in West Africa (2019), and was nominated for the annual Joop Swart Masterclass, World Press Photo (2020). Exhibitions featuring her work include Lagos Photo Festival (2018), OFF at the 25th Bamako Encounters (2019), and the Ownership and Identity Conference at the University of Lagos (Nigeria, 2019) and Bayreuth University (Germany, 2019), she also exhibited her work Ode to Heroines which was created through the Flaneuse workshop by, hosted by Adeola Olagunju, with funding from the Heinrich Boll Foundation.
Ebunoluwa has worked on assignments with both international and local organisations in Nigeria, and was commissioned by the New York Times to document the #Thisis18 project in Lagos, Nigeria (2018), she received a scholarship to attend the annual Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda (2021)
Woe and Solace
It is assumed that the meaning of heartbreak is universal, with many cultures using the same word to explain both physical and psychological pains and the emotions associated with loss or deceit. We've all had some variation of a heartbreak. Whether it is triggered by rejection, a breakup, the loss of someone dear to our heart, or the frustration arising from the pandemic in 2020, it doesn't matter the purpose. The fact is, it creates a pain that runs through our body and pierces our soul's most delicate part. While this pain only lives in our psyche, it can affect our whole being. It's not only a physical suffering that we can relieve with medication but instead a psychological illness that can be hard to conquer. Some find solace in the arms of their beloved ones, while others find refuge in their jobs and everyday activities, some have recourse to therapy, and some, perhaps, to art. As someone who has personally been through a tough heartbreak in this period of the pandemic; from losing a relationship at the point of marriage, to losing a family member, to get a lot of rejections from applications and a lot of job cancellations as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, I found recourse by turning my camera to myself to document my feelings and activities. From the self-destructive and self-loathing behavior that accompanies a traumatic breakup to the melancholy of heartbreak, the persistent questioning and doubting that contributes to self-rebranding and self-re-identification, this project aims to explore my experience and feeling of heartbreak coupled with the coronavirus pandemic and how I managed my sanity. * Participant in AFF virtual workshop
Woe and Solace

It is assumed that the meaning of heartbreak is universal, with many cultures using the same word to explain both physical and psychological pains and the emotions associated with loss or deceit. We've all had some variation of a heartbreak. Whether it is triggered by rejection, a breakup, the loss of someone dear to our heart, or the frustration arising from the pandemic in 2020, it doesn't matter the purpose. The fact is, it creates a pain that runs through our body and pierces our soul's most delicate part. While this pain only lives in our psyche, it can affect our whole being. It's not only a physical suffering that we can relieve with medication but instead a psychological illness that can be hard to conquer. Some find solace in the arms of their beloved ones, while others find refuge in their jobs and everyday activities, some have recourse to therapy, and some, perhaps, to art. As someone who has personally been through a tough heartbreak in this period of the pandemic; from losing a relationship at the point of marriage, to losing a family member, to get a lot of rejections from applications and a lot of job cancellations as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, I found recourse by turning my camera to myself to document my feelings and activities. From the self-destructive and self-loathing behavior that accompanies a traumatic breakup to the melancholy of heartbreak, the persistent questioning and doubting that contributes to self-rebranding and self-re-identification, this project aims to explore my experience and feeling of heartbreak coupled with the coronavirus pandemic and how I managed my sanity. * Participant in AFF virtual workshop

Elias Gebrebrhan
Ethiopia

Elias Gebrebrhan
Ethiopia
Elias Gebrebrhan is an Ethiopian architect and photographer based in Mekelle City, his current focus is on street and travel photography.
In the third year of his undergraduate degree in architectural design, he documented a research trip with his class around Ethiopia to view historical architectural sites. The photographs that Gebrebrhan took were more artistic photographs like landscape and street photography and his friends and teachers liked them a lot. This experience helped Elias understand that he enjoyed the way photography allowed him to fully take in a moment and pushed him to live in the present. Photography was henceforth his way of understanding life and his journey as a photographer.
As a photographer, his aim is to show the beauty and grace that make different ideas, people and cultures; to convey strong messages and empathy and have it be thought provoking. Mostly, his focus is on shooting ordinary people in a variety of situations that highlight an aspect of who the subjects really are.
Invisible, But Invicinble
Shakespeare once said `All the world's a stage and the men and women are merely players `. I share this truth when I observe life standing behind the camera. In this given time and space, we all play characters that are different and unique. Cities and other locations are stages for the characters to meet. The unpredictability of the play gives it beauty. What, where and when things can happen is uncertain. In this play called life, there are two types of character categories, called the `major characters` & the `minor characters`. One major difference between these characters is the value and the status that they have been given by society. The first category, `Main characters`, are people who are labeled as successful. This is because they could accumulate possessions. They possess way more than what they need. These people have been given too much attention, respect, and power. They live only for the self, without considering others. They are taken as role models for the other characters that are the `minor characters`. On the other hand, the second category is called `minor characters`. They are labeled as the failed ones regardless of the work and the service that they give. This is because they could not accumulate possessions. They are taken for granted by the people in the other category. They are given less attention and are not respected by others and by themselves. But what both characters have not noticed is that they are all connected to each other in different aspects of life. When one is hurt, the other cannot survive. Because the play cannot be complete without its characters. Finally, on the stage where the play is held, there are two character types called `major characters` and `minor characters`. Even though these characters have been labeled based on their differences, they complete each other. The absence of the characters makes the play incomplete.
Invisible, But Invicinble

Shakespeare once said `All the world's a stage and the men and women are merely players `. I share this truth when I observe life standing behind the camera. In this given time and space, we all play characters that are different and unique. Cities and other locations are stages for the characters to meet. The unpredictability of the play gives it beauty. What, where and when things can happen is uncertain. In this play called life, there are two types of character categories, called the `major characters` & the `minor characters`. One major difference between these characters is the value and the status that they have been given by society. The first category, `Main characters`, are people who are labeled as successful. This is because they could accumulate possessions. They possess way more than what they need. These people have been given too much attention, respect, and power. They live only for the self, without considering others. They are taken as role models for the other characters that are the `minor characters`. On the other hand, the second category is called `minor characters`. They are labeled as the failed ones regardless of the work and the service that they give. This is because they could not accumulate possessions. They are taken for granted by the people in the other category. They are given less attention and are not respected by others and by themselves. But what both characters have not noticed is that they are all connected to each other in different aspects of life. When one is hurt, the other cannot survive. Because the play cannot be complete without its characters. Finally, on the stage where the play is held, there are two character types called `major characters` and `minor characters`. Even though these characters have been labeled based on their differences, they complete each other. The absence of the characters makes the play incomplete.

Eniola Odunuga
Nigeria

Eniola Odunuga
Nigeria
Odunuga Eniola Khadijat (1995) is a Nigerian Photographer. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the Federal University of Agriculture (Abeokuta, Nigeria) in 2015, after which she began to photograph professionally.
Many of her works reflect the unique intersection between gender, ableism, space and accessibility. She hopes to address and shape narratives of issues surrounding humanity, identity, spirituality and personal existence with her works.
She was shortlisted among nine other women to participate in the women through the lens mentorship program in 2019, organized by the African Artists Foundation, which was followed by an exhibition at the 10th edition of Lagos Photo Festival in 2019 entitled Passports.
Odunuga is currently a mentee at the Nlele Institutes Centre for Arts and Photography located in Nigeria, and has exhibited her work both within and outside of Nigeria including the fotoparty at Kuta Art Foundation, and Chapel Hill at the University of North Carolina. She was also published in the 4th edition of the Canon Student Development Program.
Portrait Of Us
Lagos, Nigeria. 2020. Space is one of the fundamental foundations of creativity, in 2019 the world was forced into an unprecedented time; we were faced with a unique circumstance and stuck in a quarantine, isolation or locked down in a particular place. December 2019, the news of a new viral infection broke out and soon spread to the world. The first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Nigeria on 28th of February, I was 8 weeks pregnant and on my way to my first antenatal appointment when I read the news. With Lagos state being the epicenter of the pandemic in Nigeria, we went into lockdown a few weeks after without easy access to healthcare, antenatal classes and pregnancy support groups. Gradually the situation became nerve wracking and emotionally destabilizing as I progressed in my pregnancy journey. Generally there wasn’t much information surrounding Covid-19 and pregnancy. I constantly lived in fear and anxiety as to how the virus may affect a baby or mother, “how safe it is to breastfeed” or the most basic, “How safe it is for you to visit the clinic?” Portrait of us was created during the lockdown, each photo depicting a different emotion.
Portrait Of Us

Lagos, Nigeria. 2020. Space is one of the fundamental foundations of creativity, in 2019 the world was forced into an unprecedented time; we were faced with a unique circumstance and stuck in a quarantine, isolation or locked down in a particular place. December 2019, the news of a new viral infection broke out and soon spread to the world. The first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Nigeria on 28th of February, I was 8 weeks pregnant and on my way to my first antenatal appointment when I read the news. With Lagos state being the epicenter of the pandemic in Nigeria, we went into lockdown a few weeks after without easy access to healthcare, antenatal classes and pregnancy support groups. Gradually the situation became nerve wracking and emotionally destabilizing as I progressed in my pregnancy journey. Generally there wasn’t much information surrounding Covid-19 and pregnancy. I constantly lived in fear and anxiety as to how the virus may affect a baby or mother, “how safe it is to breastfeed” or the most basic, “How safe it is for you to visit the clinic?” Portrait of us was created during the lockdown, each photo depicting a different emotion.

Etinosa Yvonne
Nigeria

Etinosa Yvonne
Nigeria
Etinosa Yvonne (1989) is a self-taught documentary photographer and visual artist born in Nigeria. She works with various across disciplines and media, including photography and video.
The primary focus of her work is the exploration of themes related to the human condition and social injustice.
She has received grants from Women Photograph, National Geographic in partnership with Lagos Photo and Art X - as well as an award from the Royal Photographic Society for her project entitled It’s All In My Head.
She has participated in various Lab, mentorship and residency programmes.
Etinosa is one of six talents selected for the 2020 cycle of the World Press Photo 6*6 Global talent in Africa. Her work has been shown in festivals, museums and galleries globally. Her works have also been published in several international publications.
It’s All In My Head
'It's All In My Head' is a research-based multimedia project that explores the coping mechanisms of survivors of terrorism and extreme instances of conflict and cruelty in Nigeria. Through community-based research, conversations, and portrait photography layered with writing, she creates installations which explore the impact of such harsh treatment on the mental health and well-being of survivors. This project aims to advocate for increased and long-term access to psychosocial support for survivors which in turn will improve their mental health and well-being. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state that constantly grapples with varying degrees of terrorism and violent conflict. Sadly, innocent Nigerian citizens (including children) are often the most impacted by these aforementioned atrocities. Since 2018, she has worked with over forty survivors of the aforementioned tragedies in different parts of Nigeria. It is interesting to note that while these survivors find a way to rebuild and adjust to their new lives, many of them never get to talk about their experiences. Thus, the idea of "moving on” can be considered a charade of sorts as they are often in reality stuck in the past while trying to start over. A lot of the survivors struggle with depression, PTSD, and vengeful thoughts, while others have found solace in their basic existence and religion. With all this in mind, She began It’s All In My Head to draw the attention of society to the state of mind of some of these survivors.
It’s All In My Head

'It's All In My Head' is a research-based multimedia project that explores the coping mechanisms of survivors of terrorism and extreme instances of conflict and cruelty in Nigeria. Through community-based research, conversations, and portrait photography layered with writing, she creates installations which explore the impact of such harsh treatment on the mental health and well-being of survivors. This project aims to advocate for increased and long-term access to psychosocial support for survivors which in turn will improve their mental health and well-being. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state that constantly grapples with varying degrees of terrorism and violent conflict. Sadly, innocent Nigerian citizens (including children) are often the most impacted by these aforementioned atrocities. Since 2018, she has worked with over forty survivors of the aforementioned tragedies in different parts of Nigeria. It is interesting to note that while these survivors find a way to rebuild and adjust to their new lives, many of them never get to talk about their experiences. Thus, the idea of "moving on” can be considered a charade of sorts as they are often in reality stuck in the past while trying to start over. A lot of the survivors struggle with depression, PTSD, and vengeful thoughts, while others have found solace in their basic existence and religion. With all this in mind, She began It’s All In My Head to draw the attention of society to the state of mind of some of these survivors.

Fatma Fahmy
Egypt

Fatma Fahmy
Egypt
Fatma Fahmy (1991, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) is a documentary photographer currently based in Cairo. Fahmy obtained a B.A degree in Chemical Engineering from Cairo University in 2013.
She is focused on environmental and social issues, and aims to amplify historical and environmental bonds through photography
Fahmy employs ethnographic photography practices to create visual narratives, producing an image which attempts to mimic the memory of the place and its people.
She was the recipient of the Daniele Tamagni Grant at the Market Photo Workshop (2020), and was nominated for the World Press Photo Joop Swart masterclass in 2018.
Her work has been exhibited internationally at Cite Internationale des Arts (France) and the Photographic Angle Exhibition (United Kingdom).
Fahmy was recently appointed as a contributor - among other renowned photographers - to Everyday Africa & Everyday Egypt & Middle east images.
Once There Was A TRAM – Ongoing
“Nostalgia is about retrieving the best chapter of a story which is selected from our Museum of Memory. That was my story with Alexandria’s old tram. Hitting an object of affection can touch the memory the same way as falling in love. I traveled to the past with this tram box-like ... This box has suffered the injury of Time and dust accumulated, its old body rickety and the outside world has put its mark on it. I decided to enter this chest to explore its inner world, I thought it might be a reflection of its outside world. The stories of people are complementary, and their daily lives are evident in every look, gesture and expression. Light penetrates the tram and falls on people as if it was a lightning of hope in the every day’s darkness. I can feel the rhythm of life and the effect of external pressures on them. With each one present, I also feel the intensity of their day. With each passenger, being there, entering or getting off the tram, a story comes and another goes. Life is a live stream. As people wonder about their fate and going to their destination, my question remains: "How long will this box endure the outside world changes?”
Once There Was A TRAM – Ongoing

“Nostalgia is about retrieving the best chapter of a story which is selected from our Museum of Memory. That was my story with Alexandria’s old tram. Hitting an object of affection can touch the memory the same way as falling in love. I traveled to the past with this tram box-like ... This box has suffered the injury of Time and dust accumulated, its old body rickety and the outside world has put its mark on it. I decided to enter this chest to explore its inner world, I thought it might be a reflection of its outside world. The stories of people are complementary, and their daily lives are evident in every look, gesture and expression. Light penetrates the tram and falls on people as if it was a lightning of hope in the every day’s darkness. I can feel the rhythm of life and the effect of external pressures on them. With each one present, I also feel the intensity of their day. With each passenger, being there, entering or getting off the tram, a story comes and another goes. Life is a live stream. As people wonder about their fate and going to their destination, my question remains: "How long will this box endure the outside world changes?”

Fatoumata Diabate
Mali

Fatoumata Diabate
Mali
Born in 1980 in Mali, Fatoumata completed her studies at the Centre de Formation Audiovisuel Promo-Femmes before joining the Centre de Formation en Photographie (CFP) of Bamako between 2002 and 2004. Since then, internationally known, She has participated in collective exhibitions and carried out individual exhibitions as well. As a portraitist and a social photographer, her work focuses principally on women and young generations. In 2005, she received a Africa in Creation Laureate prize (AFAA) and in 2011 she received a Laureate prize from the Blachère Foundation and from the HRA Foundation. You can see more of her work on her website: www.fatoumatadiabate.org
Portraitist and social photographer Fatoumata Diabaté has placed first among alumni trained at the Centre pour la Formation en Photographie (CFP) of Bamako in 2002. Exhibited in France, Mali and internationally, her work focuses on women and youth but not exclusively. Fatoumata Diabaté uses the photographic medium more widely as a non-violent weapon for better living together, the sharing of values, cultures and traditions.
Winner of several photographic grants including the Prix Afrique en Création (AFAA), this regular of photo festivals and cultural events (Rencontres d'Arles, La Gacilly, Biennale de Dakar) is since December 2017 President of the Association of Women Photographers of Mali and was curator at the last Rencontres de Bamako.
In her youth, she was Malick Sidibe 's assistant and in 2013, she creates ®Le Studio Photo de la Rue, a mobile photo studio which is invited by many cultural spaces and festivals, The Cartier Foundation in Paris in particular.
She has been exhibited in various galleries, more recently the 31Project Gallery in South Africa. She was recently chosen by UNESCO to embody one of the ten role models of the creative and cultural sector in West Africa in a digital campaign.
Last but not least, Fatoumata Diabaté was recently honored to join the Photographic Residencies Program of Musée du Quai B ranly with her project “Nimissa”, winner 2020. She also participated in the Africa France 2021 Summit with several very notable exhibitions at the Pavillon Populaire of Montpellier.
She divides her time between Montpellier in France and Bamako in Mali.
MiroirVide20 (2020)
"At this time of health crisis, I felt like a missionary with a special task: fill an empty mirror. This feeling sent me back to myself and led me to undertake a search. And I started frantically scanning, day and night, what was happening here and there around me. What others did elsewhere, how they filled their days, how they psychologically welcomed those secluded moments that we never expected to live. Through social media, I was discovering how people, families, were adapting to this crisis that was destabilizing us all, and on a global scale. I was soaking it all day long. I wanted to show, to witness all these things that I was seeing. I was greatly impressed by the ingenuity and even the creative madness that took hold of some people in order to face the Coronavirus, and more specifically, in this relationship maintained by each one with a new object in our daily lives, the mask of protection against the virus. We were all called in March 2020 to face an unknown body. Being confined like all others, this experience, both intimate and almost universal, allowed me to think and design a series of portraits with the different means that were at my disposal at that time. Like the incredible treasures of inventiveness deployed by others, I, in turn, designed photographs to make upfor a shortfall. They became, in my home, a kind of outlet for fear and fear. Everyday objects taken here and there, barrels, strings, socks, empty boxes of wipes, used water cans, plants... all became masks, each in their own way, to respect the gestures barriers”.
MiroirVide20 (2020)

"At this time of health crisis, I felt like a missionary with a special task: fill an empty mirror. This feeling sent me back to myself and led me to undertake a search. And I started frantically scanning, day and night, what was happening here and there around me. What others did elsewhere, how they filled their days, how they psychologically welcomed those secluded moments that we never expected to live. Through social media, I was discovering how people, families, were adapting to this crisis that was destabilizing us all, and on a global scale. I was soaking it all day long. I wanted to show, to witness all these things that I was seeing. I was greatly impressed by the ingenuity and even the creative madness that took hold of some people in order to face the Coronavirus, and more specifically, in this relationship maintained by each one with a new object in our daily lives, the mask of protection against the virus. We were all called in March 2020 to face an unknown body. Being confined like all others, this experience, both intimate and almost universal, allowed me to think and design a series of portraits with the different means that were at my disposal at that time. Like the incredible treasures of inventiveness deployed by others, I, in turn, designed photographs to make upfor a shortfall. They became, in my home, a kind of outlet for fear and fear. Everyday objects taken here and there, barrels, strings, socks, empty boxes of wipes, used water cans, plants... all became masks, each in their own way, to respect the gestures barriers”.

Georges Senga
Democratic Republic of Congo

Georges Senga
Democratic Republic of Congo
Georges Senga is a photographer born in Lubumbashi, D.R.C in 1983.
His work is developed around the histories and narratives revealed in one's memories, identity, and heritage, which shed light on the actions and state of the present in relation to history.
Three of his major projects are therefore centered on the resilience of memory. These projects search for and attempt to trace the resonances that men, their facts and objects leave behind.
Georges Senga’s work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions globally, including: Lubumbashi Biennale (2008-2019), Asbl Dialogues (2013), Bamako Biennale (2011, 2015-2017), Addis Fotofest (2014, 2018), Kampala Biennale (2014), Cape Town Art Fair (2018), Sesci_video Brazil (2019), Contour Biennale (2019), Kigali PhotoFest (2019), Fondation A (2019), Wiels art center (2019), Galerie Imane Farès (2019), Cargo in Context (2019), FOMU (2019), Jean Cocteau cultural center (2020).
He has won the Thami Mnyele Award (Netherlands, 2019), DemoCrasee, Bamako Biennale (Mali 2017), CAP PRIZE – International Prize for Contemporary African Photography of the IAF Basel (Switzerland, 2017), SADC Research Residency Prohelveltia (South Africa, 2017), Leon the African RAM, Bamako Biennale (Mali, 2015), SADC Research Residency Prohelveltia (South Africa, 2014).
Life After Death
A life after death is a response to several questions. I was interested in how a single ideology can influence a collective memory, over time; would have experienced the independence icon in DR Congo Patrice Emery Lumumba.My question is: What would Lumumba be today if he had not died in 1961? This reference me in two questions: - He would be rich, popular, respected and defending injustice throughout Africa? - He would be rich, corrupted like the majority of political leaders we have in our country; These points bring me back to inquire about Lumumba's life memory on the Congolese as it was limited to the January 17 celebration, to commemorate the national hero, and then it is forgotten. I started doing interviews in my city of Lubumbashi 51 years later, to determine whether this place remains under the influence of Lumumba’s political ideas. I was surprised to hear that time is limited to all you learn at primary school as a little story. For two months I searched, until I found a man by surprise, who had his hair done and dressed like Lumumba, for me this was a good opportunity to make a fictional work that could bring me back to P. Lumumba in 2012. I started interviewing that man called Kayembe Lubamba Kilobo, and my initial idea started to vanish in my mind, because I discovered a story and a ghost in the life of Kilobo, which reminds me of Lumumba. In fact, two similar lives on different levels, one life for politics and country, the other life devoted to family. He started when he was younger. He is from Katanga, province rival at the time just after the independence of the Congo of the province of Kisangani and Kinshasa where resided P.Lumumba, adopting the same physical appearance in all this disorder of the secessionists and the idea of the African unity that had found his idol. Apart from the physical representation, Kayembe Kilobo talks about his experience and his positions towards injustice, because he tried to make politics at a communal level. He was arrested for disagreements, after many failures he had to survive by making the song after accompanying a career of former teachers. But photos of 14 diptychs, parallel the life of Lumumba before 1961 devoted to the country and that of kilobo to his family in the same perspective but under different context.
Life After Death

A life after death is a response to several questions. I was interested in how a single ideology can influence a collective memory, over time; would have experienced the independence icon in DR Congo Patrice Emery Lumumba.My question is: What would Lumumba be today if he had not died in 1961? This reference me in two questions: - He would be rich, popular, respected and defending injustice throughout Africa? - He would be rich, corrupted like the majority of political leaders we have in our country; These points bring me back to inquire about Lumumba's life memory on the Congolese as it was limited to the January 17 celebration, to commemorate the national hero, and then it is forgotten. I started doing interviews in my city of Lubumbashi 51 years later, to determine whether this place remains under the influence of Lumumba’s political ideas. I was surprised to hear that time is limited to all you learn at primary school as a little story. For two months I searched, until I found a man by surprise, who had his hair done and dressed like Lumumba, for me this was a good opportunity to make a fictional work that could bring me back to P. Lumumba in 2012. I started interviewing that man called Kayembe Lubamba Kilobo, and my initial idea started to vanish in my mind, because I discovered a story and a ghost in the life of Kilobo, which reminds me of Lumumba. In fact, two similar lives on different levels, one life for politics and country, the other life devoted to family. He started when he was younger. He is from Katanga, province rival at the time just after the independence of the Congo of the province of Kisangani and Kinshasa where resided P.Lumumba, adopting the same physical appearance in all this disorder of the secessionists and the idea of the African unity that had found his idol. Apart from the physical representation, Kayembe Kilobo talks about his experience and his positions towards injustice, because he tried to make politics at a communal level. He was arrested for disagreements, after many failures he had to survive by making the song after accompanying a career of former teachers. But photos of 14 diptychs, parallel the life of Lumumba before 1961 devoted to the country and that of kilobo to his family in the same perspective but under different context.

Gulshan Khan
South Africa

Gulshan Khan
South Africa
Gulshan Khan is an independent South African photographer based in Johannesburg. Her work is focused on stories related to social justice and social identity constructs. She tackles issues such as identity, transition and the belonging and dignity of people; the multi-layered effects of everything from access to water and sanitation to access to safe housing, and from equal education and healthcare to gender based violence and plastic pollution, climate change and migration. These are themes which continue to feed her work as a reflection of the human condition and the world around her.
She worked as a stringer for Agence France Presse (AFP), and was the first African woman to be hired by the agency in 2017. She has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, New Frame, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, The Financial Times, El Pais, The Wall Street Journal, among others.
Gulshan has worked with various NGO’s including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the African Women's Development Fund.
In 2018, she was one of six photographers selected for the World Press Photo 6x6 Talent Program, Africa Edition, and was a Joop Swart Nominee (2019). In 2016, Gulshan completed the Market Photo Workshop Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program in Johannesburg.
She is a National Geographic Explorer, and a member of the World Press Photo's African Photojournalism Database (APJD) and Native and Women Photograph and is an Everyday Africa contributor. She has presented work and spoken at the World Press Photo Festival 2019, The National Geographic Storytellers Summit 2020 and regularly teaches and critiques students work at her former alumnus, the Market Photo Workshop.
While working on multiple projects, Gulshan has been developing a long term project about her own community of contemporary Muslims in South Africa. This personal documentation aims to engage with ideas of the replication of origins, the (re)establishment of communities and the transformations of physical, political and social landscapes through faith, with a special interest in the perspective of women and aims to be something that generations to come can look upon as a source of history and memory.
The things we carry with us
The things we carry with us This ongoing personal project is the beginning of a documentation of my own community of South Africans of the Muslim faith. The goal is to present their point of view, including the women, whose experiences and presence are not always acknowledged. By portraying the prayer, the seeking and the hope which is profound and shared by all. Stemming from a community that has experienced apartheid and the legacy of colonialism, there is limited visual documentation of communities that were not part of the dominant culture or narrative. With this project, I hope to create something that generations to come can look upon as an archive of history and memory. Islam was brought to Southern Africa on a slave ship bound for the seaside city of Cape Town, the first Qu’ran being ‘carried’ and written entirely from memory. While allowed, the religion was practiced with difficulty as muslims suffered from the oppressions of colonialism, slavery, white minority rule and the apartheid regime. Since then, and with recent global geo-politics, forced and voluntary migrations, it has flourished with every Muslim person who came to South Africa, on journeys of heartache or fear, sometimes excitement; holding onto prayers. There is something to be said about this intangible phenomenon and its people, and the threads which bind them together. Faith is one of these threads that reach from the depths of the soul to the frontiers of the physical, the individual to the communal. Faith lengthens and transcends borders and is a force which keeps people together, (re)creates and shapes communities as they attempt to re-establish home in a new place. It has many influences and diverse ways of cultural practice and accents. The practices are often a replication of origins or an amalgamation of a home left behind and a new land that sometimes dictates an adjusted way of observance and worship. South Africa is a developing country and has become a haven or a last hope for those who have chosen to leave or who have lost their homes; for many, prayer and observance, together and in solitude and to become the embodiment of “connectedness”, “rootedness” and reminiscence.
The things we carry with us

The things we carry with us This ongoing personal project is the beginning of a documentation of my own community of South Africans of the Muslim faith. The goal is to present their point of view, including the women, whose experiences and presence are not always acknowledged. By portraying the prayer, the seeking and the hope which is profound and shared by all. Stemming from a community that has experienced apartheid and the legacy of colonialism, there is limited visual documentation of communities that were not part of the dominant culture or narrative. With this project, I hope to create something that generations to come can look upon as an archive of history and memory. Islam was brought to Southern Africa on a slave ship bound for the seaside city of Cape Town, the first Qu’ran being ‘carried’ and written entirely from memory. While allowed, the religion was practiced with difficulty as muslims suffered from the oppressions of colonialism, slavery, white minority rule and the apartheid regime. Since then, and with recent global geo-politics, forced and voluntary migrations, it has flourished with every Muslim person who came to South Africa, on journeys of heartache or fear, sometimes excitement; holding onto prayers. There is something to be said about this intangible phenomenon and its people, and the threads which bind them together. Faith is one of these threads that reach from the depths of the soul to the frontiers of the physical, the individual to the communal. Faith lengthens and transcends borders and is a force which keeps people together, (re)creates and shapes communities as they attempt to re-establish home in a new place. It has many influences and diverse ways of cultural practice and accents. The practices are often a replication of origins or an amalgamation of a home left behind and a new land that sometimes dictates an adjusted way of observance and worship. South Africa is a developing country and has become a haven or a last hope for those who have chosen to leave or who have lost their homes; for many, prayer and observance, together and in solitude and to become the embodiment of “connectedness”, “rootedness” and reminiscence.

Jean-David Niangoran
Côte d'Ivoire

Jean-David Niangoran
Côte d'Ivoire
Blvckvrtist is a young Ivorian photographer and digital artist.
He started photography professionally in 2020, but it has always been a passion for him since his youth.
His photography is modern, futuristic, imaginative and lively inspired by the world, modern culture but also his life story.
Blvckvrtist reveals in his photos his feelings and emotions that he can feel. Photography allows him to escape a time is little of the pressure of his daily life.
Indeed it is for him a therapy and allows him to evacuate the pains and sorrows related to his life and his difficult childhood.
Photography has allowed him to get out of depression, his goal is to convey positive messages through his photos but also to show the world that photography can heal the wounds inside.
We can say that all the works created by the artist so far highlight all his influences and his imaginations.
In the future the artist plans to focus more on his "inner self". That is to say his feelings and emotions.
Through A Glance
Taken from its collection "Through a glance" which is a collection in which Blvckvrtist reveals us its influences and its glance on the world, this series of photo entitled FCFA illustrating a young black man captive and imprisoned by iron wires. These wires represent the currency of the CFA Franc which has a negative impact on the economy of the 14 African countries that use it. This series of photos was made to denounce this. "Money makes us see all colors. Especially the blood of our ancestors and slavery. Centuries later, the FCFA still holds us captive." Each work by color represents a banknote (FCFA). (this series is composed of 5 photos).
Through A Glance

Taken from its collection "Through a glance" which is a collection in which Blvckvrtist reveals us its influences and its glance on the world, this series of photo entitled FCFA illustrating a young black man captive and imprisoned by iron wires. These wires represent the currency of the CFA Franc which has a negative impact on the economy of the 14 African countries that use it. This series of photos was made to denounce this. "Money makes us see all colors. Especially the blood of our ancestors and slavery. Centuries later, the FCFA still holds us captive." Each work by color represents a banknote (FCFA). (this series is composed of 5 photos).

Jodi Beiber
Soweto

Jodi Beiber
Soweto
Jodi Bieber’s professional career began covering the 1994 Democratic Elections in South Africa for The Star Newspaper, after attending three short courses at The Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg.
Her selection to participate in the World Press Masterclass held in the Netherlands (1996), was a turning point in her career as it allowed her to travel the world on assignment as a photographer, for international magazines and NGO’s.
She has won numerous international awards including the Premier Award at World Press Photo (2010).
Her four monographs “Between Dogs and Wolves – Growing up with South Africa” (1996); Soweto, (2010); Real Beauty (2014) and Between Darkness and Light, Selected Works: South Africa (1994-2010) are exhibited in solo and group shows locally and abroad in museums, festivals and galleries. Her photographs are housed in some significant collections including, The Artur Walther Collection, The François Pinault Collection, The Oppenheimer Collection; The Johannesburg Art Gallery, Iziko Museums Collection; Jean Paul Blachere Foundation.
She also mentors students with their grants producing projects, is a lecturer and gives photography capacity building workshops all over the world.
On the centenary anniversary of women's suffrage in the UK, the Royal Photo-graphic Society named Bieber as one of The Hundred Heroines (2018). In 2019, The New York Times, CNN and The Sun included her photograph of Bibi Aisha in the top 100 photographs influencing the previous decade.
Soweto 2019/2010...A few Personal Favourites
In the minds of outsiders, the main references to Soweto are Sam Nzima’s famous photograph of Hector Pieterson who was killed in the Soweto uprising of 1976; Vilakazi Street with Nelson Man- dela’s house; Baragwanath, the largest hospital in Africa; and media stories about poverty, HIV and Aids, and the dusty, crime-ridden streets of a township. But during my visits to Soweto I real- ised that, in the world media, images of the ordinary (or the less extraordinary) are seldom shown. In Soweto I saw so much more. I knew then that I wanted to create a project that defied stereo- types; that engaged with how Sowetans, themselves, perceived their home. Soweto operates in a completely different way to the suburbs of Johannesburg. I found myself feeling envious of how people embrace public living. Children play on the pavements; soccer matches are refereed in the streets; and adults chat, gossip or flirt with neighbours, friends or lov- ers. Music systems can be found on the stoeps (veranda) of two homes next to each other, each pelting out different sounds. I went to weddings, funerals, Barbie themed birthday parties; I ate vegetarian bunny chow; I met bikers and a rock group whose main following are white rockers in Cape Town. I was introduced to bling, fashion and wigs. I photographed the best-dressed man, the old and new generations, a young girl with an anaconda who educated people about snakes, gay couples, mixed-race couples, witchdoctors, public life and private life, interiors and land- scapes. I hope these images leave you with an altered vision of nothing dramatic; only feelings of life and home.
Soweto 2019/2010...A few Personal Favourites

In the minds of outsiders, the main references to Soweto are Sam Nzima’s famous photograph of Hector Pieterson who was killed in the Soweto uprising of 1976; Vilakazi Street with Nelson Man- dela’s house; Baragwanath, the largest hospital in Africa; and media stories about poverty, HIV and Aids, and the dusty, crime-ridden streets of a township. But during my visits to Soweto I real- ised that, in the world media, images of the ordinary (or the less extraordinary) are seldom shown. In Soweto I saw so much more. I knew then that I wanted to create a project that defied stereo- types; that engaged with how Sowetans, themselves, perceived their home. Soweto operates in a completely different way to the suburbs of Johannesburg. I found myself feeling envious of how people embrace public living. Children play on the pavements; soccer matches are refereed in the streets; and adults chat, gossip or flirt with neighbours, friends or lov- ers. Music systems can be found on the stoeps (veranda) of two homes next to each other, each pelting out different sounds. I went to weddings, funerals, Barbie themed birthday parties; I ate vegetarian bunny chow; I met bikers and a rock group whose main following are white rockers in Cape Town. I was introduced to bling, fashion and wigs. I photographed the best-dressed man, the old and new generations, a young girl with an anaconda who educated people about snakes, gay couples, mixed-race couples, witchdoctors, public life and private life, interiors and land- scapes. I hope these images leave you with an altered vision of nothing dramatic; only feelings of life and home.
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