The Africa of Per-Anders Pettersson

April 21, 2007

From the series "In transition" © Per-Anders Pettersson

I first learned about Per-Anders Pettersson when he won an award of excellence at the 2006 Picture of the Year competition in the category of Science/Natural History with the image of a chimpanzee being washed. I love that image.

"A CHIMPANZEE BEING WASHED" Crew members wash Dola, a chimpanzee, that they bought for US$ 25, while waiting for their boat to leave the Kisangani port for the capital Kinshasa on March 4, 2006 in Kisangani, in Congo, DRC. Dola died a few days later from an unknown disease. Many animals are taken to Kinshasa and sold as pets or for the meat. The Congo River is a lifeline for millions of people, who depend on it for transport and trade. POY64.

Per-Anders is indeed a well known photographer from Sweden who has spent most of the last 10 years in Africa and in particular South Africa. His work documenting the transition to democracy of South Africa is impressive. I love the density of the images (see leading image), the contrast and color saturation, the emotion of the people, the gestures. You will find an slide show of this work at his website "In transition".

It was a magic time to cover Nelson Mandela's election campaign and to document people's happiness. It was finally a hope for change after decades of Apartheid.- Per-Anders Pettersson

I like to link to a recent report of his work covering the humanitarian crisis in the Congo. He covered the Katanga Province in December 2005 to document one of worst humanitarian crises since World War 2. The Congo Republic, a country where four million have died since 1996, mostly from preventable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.

Thousands of refugees gathered at a school in Dubie, Katanga in December 2005.

One of the top ten underreported stories in 2006 as selected by Time magazine. The Congo is still home to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Congo is plagued by malnutrition, and diseases that kill 1,200 people a day. As the UNICEF points out, that is the equivalent of suffering a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami every six months.

I'm drawn to places like South Africa, like Cambodia, that have suffered terribly and yet survive. I want to be part of people’s daily lives during their most difficult time. I learn so much from these people.

The Katanga crisis was the forgotten crisis. There were very few journalists covering it. They went to other places like Kivu and Goma, and near the Ugandan border, but not Katanga. I was one of the first to cover it. There is still fighting there and still many refugees.-Per-Anders Pettersson

Even in times of crisis, people gather to share a moment of intimacy, a moment to decorate their nails sharing the dye between them. I hope the beautiful colors of Africa, so well captured by Per-Anders Pettersson, will signal a future of hope. As I always like to suggest, if you like to help, visit CARE or Mercy Corps (or any other reputable NGO) and make a donation.