A climate for changing perceptions, that is what Philippe Sibelly hopes to encourage through his project ‘The Other Africa.’ Sibelly is part of a rising group, both on and off the continent who wish to expand the dialogue within the domain of what constitutes modern Africa.
He has chosen to do this through photography under three thematic umbrellas. Firstly, portraits of gainfully employed Africans on the continent, members of an emerging middle class as he calls it, to night cityscapes as featured here and lastly portraits of radio DJ’s.
Sibelly’s goal is to visit all fifty five African nations. So far his travels have taken him through north west Africa to Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, and Cape Verde an island in the Atlantic off the west coast, and in west Africa to the nations of Ghana & Togo and down to the central region of the continent to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and the island nation of São Tomé & Príncipe.
His ambitions exceed showcasing these images on the Internet and his base country of the UK. Whilst he has made exhibitions in Great Britain, two to date in 2009, in 2011 he also presented his photos in Kumasi, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea.
Très sympa! Encore merci pour cette belle expo à Kumasi!
– Julien Dal Bosco | Alliance Française of Kumasi, Director
With ten nations visited and forty five left to go, for the next phase of the project Sibelly is planning to visit and exhibit in Somaliland and Kenya.
* Translation | “Great! Thank you again for this very nice exhibition in Kumasi!”
About
Philippe Sibelly (b. Marseille, France 1971) is a London-based educator and photographer. Over the past fifteen years, he has travelled and photographed in more than sixty countries around the globe. When he is not teaching art to secondary school students, he is working on his photographic project, The Other Africa.
theotherafrica.eu | facebook | twitter
All images courtesy of The Other Africa & Phillipe Sibelly. All rights reserved, 2011.
