Another Africa

About this book

In Another Africa, renowned photographer Robert Lyons and internationally acclaimed author Chinua Achebe have joined together to explore the real Africa behind the stereotypes commonly held by Westerners. In a stunning series of photographs and poems, this work peels away myths to explore the complexity, diversity, and humanity of a place called Africa. The nuance and detail of Robert Lyon's elegantly intermingled still lifes, portraits, and landscapes reveal rich ambiguities and unique perspectives. Informed by a discerning blend of candid observation and artistic imagination, these startlingly beautiful images record "the essential humanity and validity of the observed, and, if our hearts are open, the humanity and the validity of ourselves, the observers" (Artweek). The photographs take on another dimension in concert with the eye-opening essay and enchanting poems by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian. A "magical writer - one of the greatest of the twentieth century" (Margaret Atwood), Achebe writes about Africa on its own terms, from within. With penetrating insight, he exposes a long history of distorted depictions of this extraordinary continent.