A great promoter of African photography, the Eiger Foundation reveals the four finalists for this new edition of its The Eiger African Photobook of the Year Award 2024.
Founded in 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, the Eiger Foundation is dedicated to promoting photography as a significant art form in Africa and around the world. Through a range of initiatives including exhibitions, educational programs, cultural exchanges, as well as awards and scholarships, the foundation fosters the growth of photographic art, with a particular focus on supporting African photographers.
Among its initiatives, the Foundation awards The Eiger African Photobook of the Year Award each year to a photographer either from Africa or working in Africa. This 2024 edition of the award was conceived in close collaboration with the Inside Out Centre for The Arts based in Johannesburg South Africa, founded in 2023 by artist and photographer Roger Ballen, with whom the Eiger Foundation recently partnered to strengthen its mission.
Four finalists were recently announced after a selection made from a wealth of submissions based on several criteria: the strength of the message, innovative photographic techniques, and their ability to offer new perspectives on contemporary African life and culture.
In Unfinished War: A Journey Through Civil War in Yemen, Egyptian photojournalist Asmaa Waguih Eltobi explores the impact of this war on the daily lives of its inhabitants, giving a human face to a conflict that has been ongoing for over a decade. After an essential factual introduction, the 150 photographs plunge us into the heart of the various facets of life during wartime and the resilience with which the Yemeni people face daily tragedies.
Taking a more formal approach, Belgian-Congolese photographer Léonard Pongo focuses on questions of identity and memory within the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In The Uncanny, his richly black-and-white images are imbued with an at times ethereal atmosphere that causes disorientation: where is night, where is day? Through these abstract temporalities, without a clear narrative thread, Pongo takes us through the vision of those close to him who guided him on a near-initiation journey that would allow him to reconnect with his roots.
Identity, and more specifically the sense of belonging to a community, is at the heart of the book Isivumelwano, published by South African photographer Sabelo Mlangeni. For this series of black-and-white photographs, punctuated by some highly-grained color shots, Mlangeni captured wedding ceremonies within different Black communities in South Africa. Seventy images, each one a means of challenging the principles surrounding white weddings, whether by breaking away from heteronormative standards or embracing the cultural traditions of local populations.
In Triangle of Views, Algerian photographer Fethi Sahraoui blends his personal story with collective memory to offer a unique portrait of Algerian society. In this book, which has an original format — a triangle when closed and a square once opened — the images occupy the entire page, uninterrupted by a margin, confronting us directly with the Algeria he photographs without reservations.
The winner will be announced during a ceremony to be held on Thursday, October 3, at 5 p.m. (UTC+2).
To join please log in to
Announcement of the Eiger Winner 2024
Thursday, October 3 · 5:00 – 6:00pm
Time zone: Africa/Johannesburg
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/tfe-tvvh-qzq
Or dial: (ZA) +27 10 823 0997 PIN: 927 046 606#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/tfe-tvvh-qzq?pin=7586650440948
More information:
