Nigeriaan staat in een verlaten landschap met op de achtergrond wat hutjes en een tankauto. Een hyena staat tegen hem aangeleund.

Pieter Hugo, 2007

Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Ogre-Remo, Nigeria, 2007

Created by Pieter Hugo in 2007. The artwork is a digital c-print and displayed at 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

What body language do you observe in this double portrait of a man and a hyena? Inspired by a conversation with a friend, the Dutch photographer Pieter Hugo travelled to Nigeria to meet the so-called ‘hyena men’, a group of traveling performers shrouded in mystery. Rather than capturing the performances themselves, Hugo was more intrigued by the relation between the animal trainers and their hyenas. Tensed muscles, wide stance, and fierce gaze: both figures embody a sense of power and strength. The power play between Abdullahi Mohammed and Mainasara becomes physically visible in this image, in which the animal trainer keeps the hyena under control.

For the series The Hyena & Other Men, Hugo travelled with the Hyena men for two years, creating a range of work that hovers midway between documentary and portrait photography.

© Pieter Hugo, courtesy of the Foam Collection

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Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Ogre-Remo, Nigeria, 2007