Africa is the cradle of our civilization. Yet, most Westerners see this massive continent from a distance, and often through a scrim of largely negative headlines. 

For more than a decade, Boston-based photographer Lou Jones has sought to challenge this misperception. In 2013, he launched an in-depth photographic documentation of individual countries across Africa under the title the panAFRICAproject. 

Jones joins us on today’s podcast to recap his efforts to date, which currently encompasses a third of Africa’s 54 nations. 

Listen in to learn how the project came to be—growing from a solo endeavor to travels with two assistants and enough photo and lighting gear to illuminate an airplane factory. We also discuss the delicate mix of diplomacy and six degrees of separation Jones employs when negotiating access to photograph—plus much, much more.

“We're talking about contemporary Africa,” Jones points out. “Talking to people local—not academics in America—to tell us what's important to their culture, what's important to their country, what's important to their community, what's important to their company. Directly from people living there.”

Guest: Lou Jones

Guest Bio: The eclectic career of Lou Jones has spanned every camera format, film type, artistic movement, and technological change, while simultaneously evolving from the commercial to the personal. Recognized by Nikon as a “Legend Behind the Lens” and honored as a Lowepro “Champion,” Jones has maintained a photography studio in Boston for more than 40 years, all while traveling to over 65 foreign countries on assignment.

Jones works primarily with advertising agencies and design studios for corporate clients such as Nike, Mobil, and Federal Express, as well as influential publications like Time, Fortune, and National Geographic, among many others.

The author of more than a dozen books, Jones is also an esteemed educator and has served as a board member for organizations such as ASMP National, the Photographic Resource Center and the Griffin Museum of Photography. 

In tandem with his busy assignment career, Jones pursues long term projects on subjects as diverse as death row inmates, the Summer and Winter Games, and his most recent endeavor, The panAFRICAproject, a contemporary visual portrait of the entire continent, to establish an archive representing its 54 individual countries devoid of the preconceived, western notions of distress.

Stay Connected:
panAFRICAproject Website: https://panafricaproject.org/
Lou Jones Photography Website: https://www.fotojones.com/
Lou Jones Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loujonesstudio/
Lou Jones Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fotojones/
Lou Jones Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Jones_(photographer)
Lou Jones 2018 presentation at the B&H Event Space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plVb_EFMcQM
Lou Jones on the B&H Explora blog: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/features/lou-jones-takes-a-long-term-approach-from-jazz-portraits-to-the
Lou Jones’s book Speedlights & Speedlites: Creative Flash Photography at Lightspeed: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1025994-REG/focal_press_978_0_240_82144_3_book_speedlights_speedlites.html

Demystifying Contemporary Africa with Lou Jones and the panAFRICAproject

The B&H Photography Podcast: Join us every other week for a conversation with insightful and entertaining guests. From gear and technique to history, science and art, we discuss the issues most important to the contemporary photographer.

New tracks tagged #speedlights