The Rising Stars of Ethiopian Photography

Charlotte Jean, Blind Magazine, February 13, 2021

[...]  Ethiopia’s enormous capital, Addis Ababa, is currently undergoing unprecedented urban change. In the wake of gargantuan modernization work, a new generation of photographers is jumping energetically on this evolving subject: the city and its people. 

 

Internationally renowned Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh had foreseen that Addis Ababa would become a photography hub. In 2010, she launched the Addis Photo Festival, an opportunity for a new generation of photographers to re-appropriate the image of a country too often photographed through a Western prism. 

There is no official photography school in Ethiopia, and few exhibition spaces. Hence personal initiatives are what mainly get things moving. Photographer Maheder Haileselassie, for instance, founded the Center For Photography in Ethiopia, a learning platform for emerging photographers. 

 

The latter favor street photography, grew up with social media and the profusion of images, which has influenced their approach. They are the main witnesses to the profound transformations of their country. Blind has selected six of these thirty-and-under photographers you will most definitely want to follow. [...]

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