By Nadia Arnold
Pieter Hugo the controversial Cape Town based photographer has produced a series called Nollywood. Like all Hugo’s work he challenges the subject he is photographing and the way we as the viewer view his work. As with his other work he uses portraiture as a genre to portray his ‘models’, although in the Nollywood series he pushes the boundaries of a portrait and documentary photograph. He does this by constructing the actors in poses that each has an intention and purpose. At the same time he is documenting the actors as if they were portraying the character. The context of where it was shot is very important; the fact that these posed shots were shot in Nigeria play a role. This refers to the Nollywood industry but also commenting on Africa and the way Africa and people from Africa have been made as an ‘other’. He plays with these very issues in a dynamic way by linking the themes and underlying issues in the images. I did enjoy this exhibition I found that his work does push and challenge various boundaries. I think it is brilliant to be different but in the photography industry we have to decide how far is too far?
Hugo’s Nollywood series is a series of actors’ portraits but what makes the photographs so different is that they are Nollywood actors in full costume. He physically constructs the portraits of the actors by placing them in the clothing they would wear as that character. He arranges them in the centre of the image looking straight at the viewer with a specific background behind them. He plays around with the ideas of props either that the character would utilise in a film or a mask that communicates who this iconic character is in the Nollywood industry. These props and masks are very prominent in the photographs and they almost define and explain to the viewer that this is not a real person it is a portrayal of fictional character in very dramatic and exuberant industry.
Hugo has emphasised the gory and dramatic elements of the African film industry for a reason. By portraying the blood, guts and nudity so obviously, it demonstrates the culture and tastes of the people who watch Nollywood films. Hugo highlights that there is a major difference between Nollywood, which is a representation of Africa and Hollywood, which is a representation of the Western culture. Nollywood is the third largest film industry in the world, releasing between 500 and 1 000 movies each year. It produces movies on its own terms, telling stories that appeal to and reflect to the people of Nigeria. (Anon, 2009 No 3) It provides a way for Africa to demonstrate that they too have culture, tradition and certain ways of story telling. These films are a modern day way for them to convey the stories from the past and present. African traditions have always been rich in the act of story telling either orally or through written fiction. These stories have never been communicated through mass media before. Nollywood actors are local actors and the plots challenge the public with familiar situations of romance, comedy, witchcraft, bribery and prostitution. The narrative is over dramatic, refuse to end in a happy way and generally very tragic. The aesthetic is loud, violent, and excessive; nothing is said, everything is shouted. (Anon, 2009 No 3)
At the same time he is playing with documentation and blurring the lines of what is documentary and portrait photography. The questions that he poses the viewer is whether what we see in the photographs are reality or just a fictional character that an actor is portraying. This is demonstrated in the use of the titles, which are the actors’ names, but we are not sure whether this is their stage name or their real names. The fact that Hugo hasn’t chosen to photograph the actors when they are making a movie as that character is vital. Hugo has used the actors as if they were models for a portrait but at the same time he is playing with documenting them as this character. By doing this Hugo is blurring the lines of documentary and portrait photography and creating a new visual language. As Sean O’Toole said 'Instead of speaking in words that court emptiness and the void, Pieter Hugo's images confront viewers with the necessity of speaking in a new vocabulary, one that celebrates the fullness of being.' (Young, E, 2006)
Hugo was born in 1976 and grew up in Cape Town. He underwent a two-year residency in 2002-2003 at Fabrica in Treviso, Italy. He has won numerous photography awards and become a famous South African photographer who challenges the genres of photography and the subject matters such as race. He has held solo exhibitions at Michael Stevenson in Cape Town; Yossi Milo, New York; Extraspazio, Rome; the Museum of Modern Art, Rome and Fabrica Features; Lisbon. (Anon, 2008) Hugo stated himself 'I am six foot tall. I have blond hair and blue eyes. I stick out like a sore thumb in the locations I visit. I quickly realised that the traditional photojournalistic approach of capturing a fleeting moment wasn't going to work for me. Firstly, my reflexes are too slow, and secondly I am not a fly on the wall, I have a presence.’ ‘My work stretches, re-interprets and often subverts the traditions of documentary and portrait photography. My eye is drawn to the peripheral, particularly in Africa, and I negotiate contexts where the cultural nuances of our time are amplified.' (Young, E, 2006)
The 2 images I chose to discuss are Escort Kama and Gabazzini Zuo. I chose these two images because both images had something shocking in them but also something that made me look at the image for longer and really think about the underlying layers. The photograph of Escort Kama was my favourite image of the series because of how Hugo has used motion blur in the background to show the movement of the cars but the his model is frozen. The contrast between blurred and in focus heightens the drama and emphasises the actor dramatically. What he is wearing is also plays a vital role in why the image works. It seems that he is only wearing a black trench coat, his mask, fake pink ears and hat. His clothing heighten a certain fear in the viewer his clothing is very menacing and illustrates that the actor is portraying a serial killer character. The mask, hat and ears are an unusual combination. The hat is something unexpected but paired with the ears is almost comical. It is the mask that truly tells us that this is a menacing and dangerous character because from watching movies like The Silence of the Lambs we are able to identify with the symbol. The weapon an axe heightens the fear and drama in the photograph almost making the viewer feel like he might jump out of the photograph and kill you. 
'Escort Kama'
The fact that the background is also very much in focus again heightens the contrast in movement. I think the reason why Hugo chose to keep his background in focus is because he wants the viewer to read the sign that is advertising a vacant board. Compositionally the board is very prominent part in the photograph, obviously the model is the most important part but the board has been placed there for a reason. This reason could be because Hugo wants to highlight the fact that the photo was taken in Nigeria. He wanted to show how something like a billboard is advertised in Nigeria. This vacant board could be a metaphor for Africa and how some way Africa is a vacant board full of potential for use. Like this vacant board that is ragged and not attractive to look at, Africa too has been neglected and damaged through history and most of the countries on the African country are still developing or still in third world states. This context is what Hugo alludes to he wants to challenge how people see Africa by still showing that Africa is struggling with terrible issues. The people are able to establish their own identity based on the cultures, traditions and this is why Nollywood is now the third biggest film industry.
The photograph entitled Gabazzini Zuo is one of the most gory and bloody of the images. I felt it was the most difficult photograph to look at because of the way Hugo has placed the bull in the foreground showing the violent way the bull legs have been tied together and the organs have been placed on the actor’s shoulders. The way the blood is pouring out the animal has also been considered in terms of composition. Hugo has utilised the brightness of the blood and repeated the colour at the open wound, the organs on the actor and even the blood placed on the actor’s face. Even the massive bones in the background bring a very sombre and element of death the very kinds that Nollywood films are based on.
'Gabazzini Zuo'Hugo’s Nollywood series does challenge the ideas of what is documentary and what is portraiture? It also focuses on the various issues around Africa and especially the Nollywood film industry. He uses this industry and the actors to challenge the viewers’ idea of what is real and what is fiction. By challenging us as viewer he creates a new form of visual language that is full of complicated and overlaying issues. He is able to use the Nollywood actors to convey the same issues that the actors portray in their films. With such dramatic and some would even say offensive images Hugo work always with some air of controversy plays with what is acceptable and blurs the lines of the traditional portrait.
Bibliography
Online Resources:
1. Anon, 2008, Nollywood (Nigerian-Hollywood) Captured By Pieter Hugo, Available Online: http://slamxhype.com/art-design/pieter-hugos-nollywood-nigerian-hollywood-photography/ [Last cited on 2 March 2, 2009]
2. Anon, 2009, Pieter Hugo Nollywood, Available Online: http://www.michealstevenson.com/contemporary/exhibitions/hugo/nollywood_index.htm [Last cited on 26 February]
3. Anon, 2009, Pieter Hugo: Nollywood, Available Online: http://www.whatson.co.za/details.php?id=11772 [Last cited on 2 March 2009]
4. Ben, 2008, Pieter Hugo’s “Nollywood”, Available Online: http://www.snappertalk.com/index.php/20080811/pieter-hugos-nollywood/
5. Fell, S, 2009, Pieter Hugo Nollywood and the death of photography, In One small seed, (14), pp. 32-37
6. Kimberly, Pieter Hugo, Nollywood, Available Online: http://www.photographyboard.net/pieter-hugo-nollywood-176.html [Last cited 2 March 2009]
7. Mcintosh, T, ‘Disguise’ at Michael Stevenson, Available Online: http://www.artthrob.co.za/08jun/reviews/stevenson.html [Last cited on 26 February 2009]
8. Raul, 2009, Pieter Hugo’s Nollywood, Available Online: http://www.mexicanpictures.com/headingeast/2009/01/pieter-hugos-nollywood.html [Last cited 2 March 2007]
9. Young, E, 2006, Pieter Hugo, Available Online at: http://www.artthrob.co.za/06apr/artbio.html [Last cited on 2 March 2009]
Newspaper:
10. Angelucci, F, 2008, Blood and guts in Nollywood, Mail & Guardian, 16 May pp. 3
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