Pieter Hugo
PhotographerKnown for:
portrait photography of post-colonial African society
Education:
Self-taught photographer
Pieter Hugo has photographed post-colonial African society for more than two decades - hyena handlers in Lagos, Nollywood actors in Ghana, survivors of the Rwandan genocide - with a formal portraiture that confronts its own potential for exoticization. His book The Hyena and Other Men (2007) brought him international attention. He was awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2012.
Pieter Hugo's Gear List(1)
Hasselblad
Connection note
Hugo uses a Hasselblad medium format camera for his formal portraits of post-colonial African society, including "The Hyena and Other Men" (2007). Documented in exhibition interviews.
Product description
Produced from 1970 to 1994, the 500C/M is a modular medium format SLR using 120 or 220 film. Its interchangeable magazines, focusing screens, and Carl Zeiss lenses made it the standard camera in professional studio and location photography for three decades.
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Last updated March 20, 2026
