I don't know about you, but I had no idea that Hyena's were so big and ferocious looking, in cartoons they always appear so scrawny.     At the same time I didn't know they could be trained like dogs to perform tricks for money or even kept as loving pets.  In their makeshift nuzzles they look like small tigers or leopard like creatures from a bygone age.    The amazing Pieter Hugo has captured a side of African portraiture never seen before.   His lighting and color is truly remarkable, the juxtaposition of the urban settings only adding to the strength of the portraiture.      I'm not sure, but they look like they were shot with a Hasselblad.    The photos bring dignity to these brave men that train and work with these animals in war and poverty torn Nigeria.    The portrait of the little girl nuzzling the Hyena is incredible and tender at the same time.    The Hyena's were shot in 2005 and the Baboons in 2007 mostly in Nigeria.   I also love the unique sense of style the Hyena tamers are rocking.    Custom made chains adorn the Hyena necks and skirts that look like streetwear kilts are worn by these masculine, fierce looking men.  Some of the baboons have custom outfits.   The portraits are majestic and regal.   All Pieter's work is amazing.   His portraits of African children are also super strong.   I'm running out to buy this guy's work.     Never seen anything like it. Pieter's site


Pieter Hugo is a South African-based photographer. He has produced three monographs: Looking Aside (2006), Messina/Musina (2007) and The Hyena & Other Men (2007). Upcoming solo exhibitions are with Yossi Milo Gallery in New York and Gallery Extraspazio in Rome in November 2007. Recent group exhibitions include Reality Check: Contemporary art photography from South Africa 2007 at Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen, travelling to Museum and Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz; An Atlas of Events at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2007); Faccia A Faccia: Il nouvo ritratto fotografico at FORMA, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan (2007); the 27th São Paulo Bienal (2006); and Street: Behind the cliché at Witte de With, Rotterdam (2006). He was included on ReGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow, 2005-2025 (Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, and Aperture, New York), an exhibition identifying 50 young photographers who will be considered great by 2025, accompanied by a book published by Thames & Hudson. He won first prize in the Portraits section of the 2006 World Press Photo competition, and was selected as the Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art 2007, with an exhibition touring South Africa until July 2008.


Pieter's book- is out now.
THE HYENA & OTHER MEN
(Prestel 2007)

Photographs by Pieter Hugo
Text by Adekotunbo Abiola.

New York

Yossi Milo Gallery
525 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Yossi Milo, Alissa Schoenfeld
Phone: +1 212 414 0370
www.yossimilo.com
mail@yossimilo.com

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