Hybrid Cities considers photography centered on the African metropolis as a site of rapid social transformation. Of the largest cities in Africa, three—Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa—can be classed as “megacities”, conurbations with a population of over 10 million. That number is set to double by 2030. Amid such rapid urbanization, characterized by ceaseless flows of people, goods and capital, a state of permanent change reigns. The works in Hybrid Cities document the African city engaged at a point of unprecedented acceleration, revealing both the tensions and possibilities of that condition. The apparent chaos of crowded streets resolves itself into unexpected forms of pattern and color. Against a backdrop of uncertain infrastructure and sometimes poor social provision, men and women organize their lives and labor on their own terms, establishing affinities that flourish and thrive even under duress.


Emmanuelle Andrianjafy (1983), Girma Berta (1990), Guillaume Bonn (1970), Andrew Esiebo (1978), Hicham Gardaf (1989)