Youcef Krache, Algiers, 2014.
Walking into the International Center of Photography (ICP) on New York's Lower East Side is an exercise in expanding your understanding—of concepts and ideas, and what they may once have meant. Like street photography, the subject of the center's latest exhibition. In We Are Here: Scenes from the Street, the ICP hopes to encourage a re-framing of how we view the street and everything that takes place on it.
Bringing together the work of 30 photographers, the exhibition includes well-known African artists who've used the street and public space to directly confront issues of power and privilege. By asking who has traditionally had permission to produce images of our shared public spaces, and following the ways in which this privilege has shifted, the exhibition succeeds in refocusing our collective attention on what street photography can be—and what it certainly has become.
So you'll find the visually arresting fashion portraits South African photographer Trevor Stuurman has become known for alongside images snapped by Nigerian journalist Grace Ekpu of the #ENDSars protests. Both reveal the truth of their surroundings, from communities they are a part of, and their work showcases their individual perspectives and capture some of the dynamics they wrestle with along the way. There's also the black-and-white street photos of Algerian Youcef Krache, filled with graffiti, architecture and signage, that bring the interconnectedness of French and Islam into focus. Nontsikelelo "Lolo" Veleko's bold images capture Black identity like no one else can, helping to confront stereotypes about how people should present themselves in the 21st-Century.
Through the works gathered in the center's space, We Are Here allows for conversations between the photographers about “the street” and public space as places of self-expression, of advocacy, and of joy. Curated by Guest Curator Isolde Brielmaier, with Noa Wynn, Independent Curatorial Assistant, the exhibition runs until January 2025.
Here is a look at some of the African photographers who feature in the show, and you can visit the show yourself by following this link to the International Center of Photography.
Photo courtesy of the ICP.
From We Are Here: Scenes from the Street at the International Center of Photography.
- Stephen Tayo Is the Fashion Photographer Capturing the Effortless Style of Everyday Nigerians ›
- Photographing The Streets Of Addis ›
- Malte Wandel's Ghanaian Street Photography ›
- Spotlight: Meet the South African Street Photographer Capturing Photos of Black Life in the Johannesburg CBD ›
- Ghana Fashion x Street Photography From Emerging Label Yevu ›
- How This Cohort of African Artists Explores Memory and History Through Different Mediums - Okayplayer ›
- “No one can do it better than you:” Ala Kheir on the Hopeful State of African Photography | OkayAfrica ›
