African Photographers Everyone Should Know

Image credit & written by PICHA's in-house photographer: Mohamed Abdulrahman photography.

Malick Sidibe

Malian Photographer working primarily in black and white, his photographs captured lively portraits and scenes of celebration. His best-known works depict the burgeoning pop culture and nightlife of the Malian capital, prolifically documenting young people and their dress in elegantly posed studio portraits with patterned backdrops, which either match or deliberately clash with the sitters’ outfits and poses.

To read an interview with Malick and see some of his images, click here to check out the post on Lensculture.com.

Angèle Etoundi Essamba

Angèle Etoundi Essamba is a Cameroonian photographer, she is known for her photography work in black and white that often focuses on the African female as a subject matter. Essemba has a great interest in capturing images of black women and the way she represents them presents a challenge against Eurocentric expectations of how African women should be represented. Her work embodies mysticism and eroticism, showing women with strong sensual bodies.

Visit her official website here to explore her work.

Mohammed Amin

A Kenyan journalist / photographer, second of seven children raised by Muslim parents who had emigrated from the Punjab in 1927. Noted for his television reports of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia attracted worldwide attention and prompted a massive outpouring of relief, including the Live Aid concert. Mo Amin was all about capturing the unvarnished truth with his lens and marketed himself as an African eye who could capture Africa better than outsiders could.

To learn about this Kenyan who moved the world, read this article over on Aljazeera.com.

Let us know which African photographers you admire or follow on social media in the comments below.