A celebration of ordinary life across the continent
The internet and social media are awash with images of Africa’s amazing attractions and wildlife. Yet the rich diversity of the continent is fully contextualised only when you see photographs that capture the everyday scenes that are lived out in cities and villages in every country. It is often said that travelers visit Africa to see its wildlife, but also fall in love with its people.
It is no surprise, therefore, that the Instagram page Everyday Africa has attracted over 370,000 followers. The photographs (taken using mobile phones) feature scenes of ordinary life that seek the beauty in stories seldom seen; moments of familiar reality that people across the world will relate to. It is a refreshing perspective on the continent, and always fun to dip into.
This gallery is a selection taken from the book Everyday Africa, published by Kehrer Verlag, to celebrate the success of the Instagram project. Images used with permission.
Talking selfies in Lagos, Nigeria. By Andrew Esiebo @andrewesieboThree boys from the junior school of Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, race on the school’s track before the morning assembly. By Austin Merrill @austin_merrillAziz makes Coca-Cola deliveries with his donkey in Nouakchott, Mauritania. By Daouda Corera @dcoreraphotographyA female boxer trains inside a makeshift gym in Katanga, Kampala, Uganda. By Edward Echwalu @edward_echwaluGirls play an afternoon dancing ame in a village outside Kabwe, Zambia. Many of the people here are subsistence farmers who grow tomatoes, cabbage, kale and other food. By Idil Ibrahim @i_am_idilRiding over the Niger River in Bamako, Mali. By Jane Hahn @janehahnNight prayers in the Mosque of Sultan Hassan in Old Cairo, Egypt. The lights are an integral part of the mosque architecture, which was built in 1359. By Mahmoud Khattab @somewhereincairoChildren playing in a village near Zaria, Nigeria. By Malin Fezehai @malinfezehaiA makeshift photo studio in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. By Nichole Sobecki @ nicholesobeckiAn accountant gets his shoes shined on his way to work in Conakry, Guinea. By Ricci Shryock @ricci_s
