Staging Africa through its own lens in Shanghai

When it comes to photography associated with Africa, what springs to mind, for most Chinese, are probably the images of acutely malnourished children, boatloads of refugees or vast wilderness full of exotic animals, prevalent images about the continent that have helped to stereotype it as impoverished and primitive.

Hence, visiting Marvelous Realism, the first and most extensive exhibition of contemporary African photography in Asia to date at Fotografiska in Shanghai, can be an eye-opening experience filled with marvel and somewhat disbelief.

"These are stunning. I've never been to Africa, but from the news I've read, I've learned that this is not Africa. I feel that there is a veneer of Hollywood glamour. What's your choice for not selecting artists working with more raw, real images?" a reporter challenged the show's curator, Ekow Eshun, a Ghanaian-British writer and curator, after a guided press tour on Aug 29.