Source
Autumn 2006

Three photographers based in the UK have been photographing in Africa. Paul Seawright’s new work documents the invisible peripheries of African cities, vast metropolises ‘hidden in the blind spot of the West’. In Admas Habteslasie’s photographs we see the consequences of a long period of war on Eritrea that has left the ports silent and food rationing.

Away from the evidence of recent history and politics Zarina Bhimji’s images, though made on several visits to Uganda from 1998 are ‘not about Uganda’ in any localizing sense. Rather they engage broader concerns with ‘stain, emotion, and grief’.

The complexities of photographing in Africa and work of these three photographers is introduced by Christopher Pinney who describes how photography’s excess in recording the world makes it the ideal medium for coming to know a world that is unfamiliar to us, to capture more than we expect or desire.

Akinbode Akinbiyi grew up in England and Nigeria and studied in Germany where he now lives. He has worked as both a photographer and curator in Africa and Europe. He describes the community of photographers working in Nigeria today and the development of the photo biennale in Bamako, Mali that has grown significantly since it started in 1994 to showcase photography from across Africa. Lastly he reflects upon the experience of African photographers who are now receiving exposure in the international art market that brings opportunities but can also put into relief the inequalities between practioners working in Africa and Europe.

Source is a quarterly photography magazine, available in print and as a digital edition, published in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They publish emerging photographic work and engage with the latest in contemporary photography through news, thoughtful features and reviews of the latest exhibitions and books from Ireland and the UK. Their website brings together an archive of writing and pictures from the magazine alongside current features.¹