Hayabusa Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Pieter Hugo 'Gadawan Kura' - The Hyena Men Pieter Hugo presents portraits of a group of entertainers from Nigeria, who travel across the country with three hyenas, two pythons and four monkeys. http://www.michaelstevenson.com/contemporary/exhibitions/hugo/nigeria.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadpig Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Re: Think your dog is badass?? Bitch Please i want a unicorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayabusa Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 Re: Think your dog is badass?? Bitch Please http://www.michaelstevenson.com/contemporary/exhibitions/hugo/nigeria_index2.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayabusa Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 Re: Think your dog is badass?? Bitch Please 'The Dog's Master' Pieter Hugo These photographs came about after a friend emailed me an image taken on a cellphone through a car window in Lagos, Nigeria, which depicted a group of men walking down the street with a hyena in chains. A few days later I saw the image reproduced in a South African newspaper with the caption 'The Streets of Lagos'. Nigerian newspapers reported that these men were bank robbers, bodyguards, drug dealers, debt collectors. Myths surrounded them. The image captivated me. Through a journalist friend I eventually tracked down a Nigerian reporter, Adetokunbo Abiola, who said that he knew the 'Gadawan Kura' as they are known in Hausa (a rough translation: 'hyena handlers/guides'). A few weeks later I was on a plane to Lagos. Abiola met me at the airport and together we took a bus to Benin City where the 'hyena men' had agreed to meet us. However, when we got there they had already departed for Abuja. In Abuja we found them living on the periphery of the city in a shantytown - a group of men, a little girl, three hyenas, four monkeys and a few rock pythons. It turned out that they were a group of itinerant minstrels, performers who used the animals to entertain crowds and sell traditional medicines. The animal handlers were all related to each other and were practising a tradition passed down from generation to generation. I spent eight days travelling with them. The spectacle caused by this group walking down busy market streets was overwhelming. I tried photographing this but failed, perhaps because I wasn't interested in their performances. I realised that what I found fascinating was the hybridisation of the urban and the wild, and the paradoxical relationship that the handlers have with their animals - sometimes doting and affectionate, sometimes brutal and cruel. I started looking for situations where these contrasting elements became apparent. I decided to concentrate on portraits. I would go for a walk with one of the performers, often just in the city streets, and, if opportunity presented itself, take a photograph. We travelled around from city to city, often chartering public mini-buses. I agreed to travel with the animal wranglers to Kanu in the northern part of the country. One of them set out to negotiate a fare with a taxi driver; everyone else, including myself and the hyenas, monkeys and rock pythons, hid in the bushes. When their companion signalled that he had agreed on a fare, the motley troupe of humans and animals leapt out from behind the bushes and jumped into the vehicle. The taxi driver was completely horrified. I sat upfront with a monkey and the driver. He drove like an absolute maniac. At one stage the monkey was terrified by his driving. It grabbed hold of my leg and stared into my eyes. I could see its fear. Two years later I decided to go back to Nigeria. The project felt unresolved and I was ready to engage with the group again. I look back at the notebooks I had kept while with them. The words 'dominance', 'codependence' and 'submission' kept appearing. These pictures depict much more than an exotic group of travelling performers in West Africa. The motifs that linger are the fraught relationships we have with ourselves, with animals and with nature. The second trip was very different. By this stage there was a stronger personal relationship between myself and the group. We had remained in contact and they were keen to be photographed again. The images from this journey are less formal and more intimate. The first series of pictures had caused varying reactions from people - inquisitiveness, disbelief and repulsion. People were fascinated by them, just as I had been by that first cellphone photograph. A director of a large security company in the USA contacted me, asking how to get in touch with the 'hyena group'. He saw marketing potential: surely these men must use some type of herb to protect themselves against hyenas, baboons, dogs and snakes? He thought that security guards, soldiers and his own pocket could benefit from this medicine. Many animal-rights groups also contacted me, wanting to intervene (however, the keepers have permits from the Nigerian government). When I asked Nigerians, "How do you feel about the way they treat animals?", the question confused people. Their responses always involved issues of economic survival. Seldom did anyone express strong concern for the well-being of the creatures. Europeans invariably only ask about the welfare of the animals but this question misses the point. Instead, perhaps, we could ask why these performers need to catch wild animals to make a living. Or why they are economically marginalised. Or why Nigeria, the world's sixth largest exporter of oil, is in such a state of disarray. MORE AT THE LINK ABOVE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mensa Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Re: Think your dog is badass?? Bitch Please ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Re: Think your dog is badass?? Bitch Please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayabusa Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 i dont remember it in all my times here just seeing the few random pictures whatever stil dope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLIK$ Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 i seriously been talking about wishing i could own a lion that i could walk down the block on a giant chain for like 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALIgula Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 doesnt this thread already exist?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishCarBombs Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 i seriously been talking about wishing i could own a lion that i could walk down the block on a giant chain for like 5 years. like that one dude in harlem, who had tigers and gators in his apartment in the projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
After School Special Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 When I was in Arizona this woman had a on a leash. 100 percent wolf. It was fucking awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SADDAM HUSSEIN Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 my homeboy had one in Concord CA people in nevada come through with you can get it through a simple pet shop in vegas... they showed sample pictures of old people with pet mountain lions and shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blood fart Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 According to my Myspace profile, I want to meet those dudes. To tell the truth, I think I am not hardcore enough to even stand in the presence of those dudes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatso Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 I'm still waiting for future deluxe to get me my fucking dinosaur... :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatso Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 oh fuck yeah I'm three generations deep in 12oz gangsterdom now! thanks youz guys! :mexican: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceLeroy Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Re: Think your dog is badass?? Bitch Please gracias MAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KRYLON2~ Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 i want one of those lil monkeys that ace ventura had since i was 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatso Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blood fart Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Dude. This monkey is the 5th element of hip hop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
count chocula Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 god damn, this world is so fuckin huge. seeing shit like this reminds me of how much i haven't seen/need to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllTheWrongWords Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 You know its some deep shit when blood fart says she's not hardcore enough for it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john brown Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 typical hood figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushawn wuan Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 i heard tyson owned panthers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_gooch Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 "I sat upfront with a monkey and the driver. He drove like an absolute maniac. At one stage the monkey was terrified by his driving. It grabbed hold of my leg and stared into my eyes. I could see its fear." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalist Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 haha. Michael vick should get on this shit. I'm sure he knows fools out that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avancier2 Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 I suppose if you raise a wolf from a pup then it might be as tame as a regular dog. But I dont know, do you think that one could still just snap on you as an adult at any given time if you raised it this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasfacevictm Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 any fake ass thug with a pitbull thinking hes hard needs to go to nigeria and hang with these guys. your pitbull is a snack for these things. god i hate yo boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.crooked Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 There was photo article on this in mass appeal a grip ago. I think some of those photos are from it. These people were accused of intimidation with the animals to extort money, etc. They claim they are a circus. My view is who the fuck cares. If you walkin around with a fuckin hyena on a chain. You can have what you want. Money, whatever. That shit is ballin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercer Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5765231484484866420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De sign Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 deja-vu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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