HT to afripop. See another great Asa video here.

Pete Muller is a photojournalist based in Juba, South Sudan. I want to point out two series he’s done recently. The first is a series of portraits of Dinka cattle raiders.

On Time’s photography blog Lightbox, Pete writes:

The men pictured in this series are members of the Dinka Rek sub-tribe and self-identify as a “brigade.” In this exceptionally remote area of southern Sudan, there are no signs of the region’s soon-to-be-independent government. No army. No police. No civil servants. In this void, communities are wholly responsible for their own security in an environment of extreme risk and hostility. The ubiquitous presence of weapons creates a deadly and delicate power balance between the competing pastoralist groups. If the government moves to disarm one sub-tribe, they will face immediate threat of raiding from neighboring groups that retain their weapons.

In addition to be technically superb photographs, what I really like about these images is the individuality and identity that each of the subjects has. And by viewing a series of portraits, I get a sense of a textured community of discrete individuals, rather than a sort of pre-historic and stereotypical horde of angry men with guns and cows. It’s difficult to make the same sort of sweeping statements all too common in media coverage when you as a viewer are offered the chance straight into the eyes of a young woman or check out a dude’s awesome aqua and pink shirt. These images aren’t of a “tribe,” but of specific people with specific personalities who make specific choices.

Pete uses a similar method in a series of portraits of women in DRC all of whom were among “the nearly 50 women who described their brutalization and rape by a unit of Congolese soldiers who attacked Fizi, D.R.C. on Jan. 1, 2011.”

On Lightbox, Pete explains:

“Once we had established the condition of relative anonymity for the women, dozens of rape survivors were eager to pose for portraits. They moved quietly to the center of the room and waited patiently for me to work. In many instances, I was required to use my hands to make minor adjustments to their stance and location. Their faces were already covered and, given the horrible experiences they’d so recently endured at the hands of men, I felt overwhelming pressure to guide them as delicately as possible. I moved them gently by their shoulders and spoke softly in KiSwahili, a common language in eastern Congo. I felt the weight of crimes committed by fellow men and, in those moments, felt ashamed to be part of the group.”

There are many photos of women in DRC who have been raped, and many that hide the subject’s identity. But by creating a series of similarly staged portraits, Pete brings a sense of individuality to each of the women shown. I’m drawn to the bright vertical stripes the first woman wears, the slack arms of the second woman, the tender moments between mother and child. These images give evidence of the scope of the problem in a way that a one-off photograph or a more straightforward narrative  photo essay on DRC does not demonstrate.

Thanks to Pete for letting me post so many of his images.

In Jonny Steinberg’s new book Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City, he describes a Liberian refugee’s first encounter with Staten Island:

In the valley approaching the ocean, the suburbs vanished without warning and he was on Park Hill Avenue. Identical apartment blocks as far as the eye could see; fragments of hip-hop ricocheting from the cabriolets that cruised around and around. You crossed the street, went another block, and you were back in the suburbs, the car stereos replace by birdsong. It was as if Park Hill was a thin sliver of somewhere else spliced onto the surface of Staten Island.

Most New Yorkers still think of Staten Island as working class Italian, but mainly due to the huge influx of West Africans from Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast and elsewhere, the black population of Staten Island has grown by 12 percent in the last decade. It’s hard to say how many Liberians and others live in Staten Island since many people haven’t sorted their immigration status. But there are plenty-o.

I’m now splitting my time between New York and West Africa, and I’ve started a new photo project on Staten Island. I first went out there for a visit in mid-April. I attended a meeting of the Staten Island Liberian Community Association, which was a mix of formalities, community news, and a very loud argument between two old ma conducted in rapid fire Liberian english. I was invited to come back and photograph a special mother’s day program a couple of weeks later. And that’s how I found myself riding a white stretch limo around Staten Island on a Saturday night with a bunch old Liberian ladies dressed in their fanciest lapa.

I’m excited about working in New York for a change, and where this project might go.

The New York Times Magazine showcased an amazing selection of photos about the Fespaco film festival in Burkina Faso. I’ve posted a couple of AndreaFrazzetta’s photos here and check out the rest on the NYT. Frazzetta’s portfolio is pretty amazing – there’s a lot of work from Africa worth checking out, especially if you’re tired of seeing this.

If you’re interested in reading more about Fespaco or all thinks Burkinabé, check out some of the posts by Christopher Vourlias over at This is Africa.

Pauline has a shocking post up over at West Africa Always Wins about aftermath of post election violence in Ivory Coast in Yopougon, a district in the commercial capital Abidjan where mass graves have been found.

Last week a tour of Yopougon left me sad and fearful — after Gbagbo’s capture on April 11, scores of people were killed in ethnic revenge attacks by militias. The devastation was heartbreaking. I stood at the edge of a mass grave, saw bloated corpses, drove past burned out slums and watched the new FRCI army haul half-naked alleged militias to jail. I also learned the term pro-Gbagbo militias used for burning people alive: applying article 125. Hundred CFA-francs for petrol, plus 25 CFA-francs for a box of matches. Northerners that were targeted by the militias say they are ready to apply article 125 on their executioners when they catch them. Yesterday I nervously went back to Yopougon, but I was glad to see life is slowly resuming. There are few young men about though. One mostly sees women, children and old people.

Make sure you stop by there to see her photos and read some of her election coverage.

Young boys, all of whom were refugees from Ivory Coast, play in a stream in Janzon, a small border town near Zwedru, Liberia in March 2011. Kids will be kids, and will splash around and play and mug for the camera no matter where they are or where they’ve been. See more of my photos of refugees from Ivory Coast in Liberia here.

Thanks to brother-blogger Grant over at Mo’dernity, Mo’problems, and not just for keeping me informed on goat scams, but also point out the new mixed tape by the Very Best.

Follow this link to download their new mixed tape, and then listen on repeat until you annoy your neighbors.

SIJI – ‘Ijo’(Official Video) from SIJI on Vimeo.

Love the concept here – a beautiful set of dancers in a faux-audition that becomes its own event. Not to mention beautiful light and high production quality! I almost wonder if this was shot on a dSLR?

HT to the always awesome Africa is a Country