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Recap: SASA with Akintunde Akinleye

On Wednesday, Akintunde Akinleye (Carleton University) presented “Beyond the Frame: Photojournalism in the Context of Africa” for the Students in African Studies Association (SASA). Akintunde Akinleye has worked as a photojournalist since 2003 for Nigerian news outlets as well as Reuters. In 2007, his spot news single shot won the World Press Photo contest. He is currently completing his doctorate in visual anthropology. He began his lecture by asking a question posed by the late Professor Pius Adesanmi: ‘What is Africa to me?’ Akinleye notes that this is a simple question with subjective complexity. In photojournalism, this same question can be considered when determining how Africa is communicated, framed, represented, and constructed in media. Akinleye asked how we can reframe Africa in photojournalism and other disciplines through a heterogenous conceptualization that more accurately portrays the continent.

In his own work, Akinleye recognizes that he sometimes produces images that seem to define the reductive perspective. Sometimes the images are very explicit in depicting the disturbing violence and suffering that people experience. However, he seeks to show a nuanced view of the way things are, even in these extreme circumstances. But how can you provide nuanced perspectives when you publish and work within a structure that perpetuates reductive views? Akinleye opened his lecture to a larger conversation with the audience in an attempt to untangle these questions.