the hyena men and midnight.

i was rifling around amongst my many old scrapbooks + magazines and came across an edition of 8 magazine – www.foto8.com vol. 4 from june 2005 in fact – this particular magazine has survived many moves and many more culls. the reason being it was my introduction to pieter hugo + his “hyena and other men” series which did and still do blow my mind. WOW. pieter hugo spent 8 days travelling with the nigerian hyena handlers, a little girl, three hyenas, four monkeys and a few rock pythons. the group use the animals to entertain crowds and sell traditional medicines, practising a tradition passed down from their fathers before them. this is modern primitive.

also arlene gottfried and her poignant photographs of her dear friend “midnight” and his journey with paranoid schizophrenia. “In 1984, Gottfried met Midnight, a handsome and charming companion who danced and performed at night-clubs. A paranoid schizophrenic, Midnight soon fell victim to auditory hallucinations, self-mutilations and extreme behaviour. This two-decade visual journey of simple yet gripping portraits reveals the ravages – and redemption – of time, exposing Midnight in his many modes, vast enough to find an echo in each of us. Going beyond the superficial stigma of mental illness, these photos take us into the personal life of a man whose illness did not destroy their friendship.” …..excerpt from “midnight”, the book – available here.