Africa
Liz Gilbert
Sygma
This exhibition is a collection of African news stories in post-colonial, post-cold war Africa. Sadly, these images are familiar. They may even be expected. They depict a scale of suffering that is unimaginable in the Western world but that has become all too cliche’ in Africa. Though many of these pictures were taken on widely covered news events, such as the genocide in Rwanda, they could have been taken anywhere on the continent. There is no shortage of tragedy in Africa.
Preview
By documenting these subjects I hope to underline their importance and show that we can never truly hope to achieve peace if we do not defend basic human rights not only in Europe, but all over the world. I hope that these images will raise concern for the poverty, corruption and civil wars that rage across Africa. Most of all I hope that the people in these pictures, by being photographed, will not have suffered invisibly, but will have contributed to any positive changes brought on by media attention.
Photographing civil war and corruption in Africa is a never ending mission and one that sees few results. Tragic human rights abuses remain unchecked across Africa and long-running civil wars in countries like Sudan, Congo and Angola claim the lives of thousands every month.
Western countries and the IMF continue to contribute money to African governments notorious for their record of human rights abuses. Perhaps by publicizing these events we will be forced to consider the consequences of letting such disasters go unresolved.
Liz Gilbert
