For those of us who are creatives or brands that use images to accompany the work that we produce, stock image platforms are our go-to. And when it comes to finding generic images, we are often spoilt for choice. However, this choice dwindles the more we look for images that portray Africa—her people, her architecture and cultures—in an authentic manner. The visual narrative of Africa has been left to societies that have little knowledge of who we are, what we are about and what we look like.  If we don’t take full control of the African visual narrative, it will continue to be controlled by the West, which is hell-bent on only portraying the grim aspects of our beautiful and dynamic continent. 

Considering the various ways in which Africa is visually misrepresented, it is refreshing to come across a collective that is “driven by visual content that showcases the contemporary side of Africa and people of the African diaspora.” PICHA is a platform that showcases unique and modern-day African stock images. PICHA, which means “images” Swahili, helps brands tell authentic visual stories by providing them with images that offer an accurate portrayal of Africa.

PICHA works with remarkable photographers from various corners on the continent. The brand has partnered with Fujifilm South Africa, Cameraland Cape Town, and Sofacompany ZA to put curate an exhibition that will showcase the talent of Africa’s photographers. The Future Focus exhibition will be taking place in Cape Town, Accra and Nairobi. The first instalment of the exhibition will be taking place on the 6th of December at #FirstThursdays in Cape Town. This photographic exhibition aims to provide African photographers with a platform to prove that local creatives are more than capable of producing work worthy of global attention.

The Cape Town exhibition will feature interpretations of the Afrofuturism concept. The final selection of images has been curated by Daron Bandeira, Ghana-based art director and founder of the contemporary creative platform Afrobougee.

“Afrofuturism is a movement in literature, music, art, etc., featuring futuristic or science fiction themes which incorporate elements of black history and culture.”

The Future Focus exhibition will feature the works of photographers such as Alexis Tsegba, Andrew Stephen, Arit Emmanuela, Andressa Nubia, Djibril Drame and Elie Akadia.


Keep your eyes on blaque.co.za to read more about PICHA’s Future Focus exhibition. Visit 

 

Leave a Reply