Not just some passing foreign journalist

Lawyer and writer Elnathan John interviewed U.S. photographer Glenna Gordon. Listen.

A wedding photographer snaps a northern bride with her husband and brother at a ceremony in Kano, Nigeria (Glenna Gordon).

Glenna Gordon is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn. She takes evocative pictures of everyday life in Nigeria, showing a special interest in Northern Nigeria. In this interview, Glenna opens up on misconceptions of the north, what drives her as a photographer and storyteller, the ways in which she captures intimate moments and her most recent project: photographing belongings from the abducted Chibok school girls.  She shows, in her words and in her work how invested she is in the lives of her subjects- not just some passing foreign journalist looking for a third world photo. Elnathan speaks to her in Abuja. Here.

Image from Glenna Gordon’s “Nigeria Ever After” Series.

Further Reading

Goodbye, Piassa

The demolition of an historic district in Addis Ababa shows a central contradiction of modernization: the desire to improve the country while devaluing its people and culture.