“These Things change from day To day and are never fixed. i wanT The viewer, even if iT is a cliched suBjecT Being displayed, To walk away from viewing my picTures wiTh a fresh and new Take on The suBjecT and Their manner of oBserving iT.” what element(s) of society do you think your work better represents, beyond the subject(s) itself? there is a dialogue between myself, the subject being photographed, the history and current issues relating to photography, the captions, the space where the image is being viewed, etc. these things change from day to day and are never fixed. i want the viewer, even if it is a clichéd subject being displayed, to walk away from viewing my pictures with a fresh and new take on the subject and their manner of observing it. so, the answer to your question is: i want people to make up their own minds and hopefully give them a fresh vantage point. did you establish any relation with the hyenas (or the other animals) while photographing the traveling people? was there ever a situation where you felt it could be the end of you, as in the animals attacking you? if yes, how did it feel? i stayed with these guys for more than a week, so i definitely developed a relationship with them. On one level i found the way that they treat the animals repulsive. On another level i found the co-dependent relationship between man and animal incredibly beautiful. Often, i was not sure who was master and who was slave! a baboon attacked me once, as did one of the rock pythons. the hyenas are actually quite sedate, ensuring that they are properly fed. towards the end of the trip i relaxed and felt fine patting and helping to feed them. but they are very very intimidating animals! i never completely relaxed around them, they are wild animals after all. i have always been fascinated by nigeria. it is the most heavily populated country in africa. it has an incredibly daunting reputation. it is a country of weird antitheses, especially for south africans. their life expectancy is longer than ours; their literacy is higher than ours; and their hiV infection rate is significantly lower. the most intimidated and nervous i got was on a bus ride from an abuja taxi rank. i agreed to travel with the animal wranglers to kanu in the northern part of the country. whilst one of them went to negotiate a fair, i hid in the bushes with everyone else, including the three hyenas, four monkeys and two rock pythons. when their companion gave the sign that he had agreed a fare, the motley troupe of humans and animals leapt out from behind the bushes; they all ran and jumped into the vehicle. the taxi driver was so terrified. he wasn’t sure what to do. i sat up front with a monkey and the driver. the taxi operator drove like an absolute maniac. at one stage the monkey seemed to get nervous with the driving. it grabbed hold of my leg and stared into my eyes. i could see the fear in its eyes. having captured genocide, slavery, insanity through your lens, you seem to be capturing various forms of endings, could you describe your personal feelings and experiences? Every issue and the documentation thereof is a unique experience. One goes through such a vast array of emotions that i find it impossible to pigeonhole my feelings about them. i don’t believe in happy Endings. by its very nature an Ending is unhappy. sometimes i experience relief. sometimes disappointment, confusion. the process of creating is not an easy one for me. how has the experience of touring with your work been? how different it is when working with a publisher, a commercial client, yourself or when commissioned by a gallery or museum? i try and maintain a uniform way of interacting with people – whether it’s someone from a gallery or a picture editor. i generally enjoy traveling. it’s a continual mental rebirth 10 . at the same time it is nice to have a base, a home. Extreme physical and geographical change brings about mental change. it’s a positive experience. Change is good. could you describe your own version of the final judgment, apocalypse or end of the world? i suspect it will be something boring – polar caps melt, ancient dormant diseases get released into the atmosphere, we die. the whole thing starts over again. is there any other group of people you would like to study? this question is offensive – i don’t study people. i take photographs. i make art. what is the next thing we will see from you? hopefully a book or two. what is the end? i don’t know but it is definitely not a ‘happy Ending!’ Born in Johannesburg in 1976, Pieter Hugo is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker. He has a working relationship with Colors magazine, for whom he has shot photographic stories on issues ranging from old age to slavery, and slums to madness. In 2002/3 he underwent a residency at Fabrica. He has held solo exhibitions at Michael Stevenson in Cape Town, the Museum of Modern Art, rome, and Fabrica Features, Lisbon. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Con un rispetto profondo per i soggetti che cattura, pieter hugo descrive il continente africano con scatti di grandissima grazia ed ispirazione. un portfolio vivido ed enigmatico, un’istantanea della quotidiana lotta per la sopravvivenza nel continente più povero del pianeta. ha viaggiato con i domatori di iene 09 nigeriani, le loro tre iene, due pitoni e quattro scimmie e il loro traffico di erbe medicinali. al loro fianco ha visto un paese dilaniato dal genocidio, solcato
“mallam gahaDina ahamaDu with thE hYEna Jamis, abuJa, nigERia.” FiRst pRizE singlEs pORtRait at wORlD pREss phOtO awaRDs 2006. “mallam gahaDina ahamaDu with thE hYEna Jamis, abuJa, nigERia.” pRimO pREmiO al wORlD pREss phOtO awaRDs 2006 58/59
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