Hyenas and other people

Hyenas and other people

Categories: Africa | Animals | Nations

Once, a photographer from Cape Town, Peter Hugo, received a curious photo from a friend traveling in Nigeria. It showed people walking through the city with hyenas. They led these big and scary animals on a leash, like dogs. After a while, Hugo himself went to Nigeria and found these strange people.

Hyenas and other people

Peter Hugo was born in 1976 and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a South African photographer, specializing mainly in portraits, and his work is related to the cultural traditions of African communities. Hugo describes himself as a "political photographer with a small p". One of the most famous works of this photographer is the series "Hyenas and other people". For the portrait of a man with a hyena, Hugo won a prize in the "Portraits" category at the World Press Photo contest in 2005.

Hyenas and other people

1. Mallam Galadima Ahmadu with Jamis in Abuja, Nigeria. 

A few weeks later, we flew to Abuja, where several traveling artists agreed to meet us. They lived on the outskirts of the city, in squalid shacks – a few men, a little girl, three hyenas, four monkeys, and a few pythons.

They were a group of itinerant minstrels, healers, and wild animal tamers who made a living by entertaining the crowd. 

All of them were close or distant relatives and engaged in a craft that they inherited from previous generations.

I was struck by the way they treated their animals-sometimes with boundless love, sometimes with some inexplicable cruelty. And I decided to focus on portraits and shoot just such moments — sometimes monstrous, sometimes touching, but always paradoxical."

Hyenas and other people

2. Garuba Yaku from Rando, Nigeria.

Simple craft allows you to somehow survive, showing tricks with animals and offering unpretentious public healing remedies for all diseases. Hyena handlers pass on their skills from generation to generation, have a recipe for a special liquid, dipping into which you get protection from the hyena bite, and special spells for controlling wild animals.

Hyenas and other people

3. Dayaba Usman with his monkey Claire, Nigeria. 

The world of these complex relationships on the verge of survival, where the familiar concepts of power and submission have long lost their meaning, caused a mixed reaction of society: curiosity, distrust, concern for animals, disgust, anger…

Hyenas and other people

4. Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara. 

Hyenas and other people

5. Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara. 

Hyenas and other people

6. Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara. 

Hyenas and other people

7. Alhaji Hassan with Ajasco. 

Hyenas and other people

8. Hyena people from Abuja, Nigeria. 

Hyenas and other people

9. Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara. 

Hyenas and other people

10. Mammy Ahmadu and Mallam Mantari Lamal with the hyena Mainasara. 

Hyenas and other people

11. Abdullah Mohammed with the hyena Mainasara in Ogere Remo, Nigeria.

Keywords: Animals | Africa | South africa | Peoples | Nigeria | Portrait | Photo contest | Training | World Press photo | Cape town | Prize

Post News Article

Recent articles

the 6 healthiest alcoholic beverages in the world
the 6 healthiest alcoholic beverages in the world

It is implied that drinking alcohol is a fact that does not have a very good effect on health. But this is all a human tendency to ...

Taking souls in the Nude: hot photographs of Mikhail Kovalenko
Taking souls in the Nude: hot photographs of Mikhail Kovalenko

Photographer from St. Petersburg, Mikhail Kovalenko — a very versatile photographer. His artistic heritage portraits, ...

The fragile art: exquisite ceramic Bacon Martha Rodriguez
The fragile art: exquisite ceramic Bacon Martha Rodriguez

Ceramics is one of the most fragile and delicate forms of art. Mar Bacon Rodriguez (Martha Pachon Rodriguez) from Colombia has ...

Related articles

Photos of puppies on their first day on duty
Photos of puppies on their first day on duty

No matter how cute these puppies look — they are on a serious mission. The main dog professions are police dogs, military dogs, ...

A fisherman from South Africa encountered a frightening parasite that became part of a live fish
A fisherman from South Africa encountered a frightening ...

There are many parasites in nature that live at the expense of other creatures, but none of them have adapted to their role as well ...

30 celebrities who love cats
30 celebrities who love cats

Most people on the planet inevitably associates the love of cats and celebrities among them. It is not necessary that the star ...