The Hyena & Other Men. Author: Adetokunbo Abiola; Photographer: Pieter Hugo, Prestel, February 2008, 80 pages, 35 color illustrations, 285 x 240 mm, ISBN 978-3-7913-3960-3, hardcover, US $ 49.95, GB £ 25.00.
From the publisher’s site:
A must for photography aficionados, this book features an arresting collection of portraits focusing on a group of itinerant performers in Nigeria.Many myths surround the “Hyena Men” who haunt the peripheries of Nigeria’s cities. Accompanied by hyenas, rock pythons and baboons, these men earn a living by performing before crowds and selling traditional medicines. Pieter Hugo’s extraordinary portraits of their liminal existence reveal an uncanny world of complex, codependent relationships, where familiar distinctions between dominance and submission, wildness and domesticity, tradition and modernity are constantly subverted. Nigerian journalist Adetokunbo Abiola introduces readers to the “Hyena Men,” explaining the traditions and mystique behind their practices. Presented in thirty-five full-color plates, these intense portraits reveal why Hugo is one of the most exciting young photographers at work today.
