The panAFRICAproject - One photographer's personal journey across Africa

BOSTON - Feb. 27, 2017 - PRLog -- The panAFRICAproject exhibition presents a vision of Africa that you will rarely, if ever, encounter. It is the result of world-renowned photographer Lou Jones' decade-long journey photographing Africa from his uniquely personal perspective.

Mar 15  - Apr 17, 2017

Gallery at the School of Design, Mount Ida College, Newton Ma.

Reception, Wed, Mar 22, 6:30 pm (Rescheduled due to impending storm)


Featuring a conversation between Barry Gaither, Adjunct Curator for African-American Art at Boston's MFA and Lou Jones

The exhibition, featuring over 100 full-color, larger-than-life images, showcases Jones' photographic campaign to create a contemporary, visual portrait of modern Africa. By enlisting input from local leaders, knowledgeable natives, and the working citizenry, Jones has sought out the characteristics that make each country, region, community, and tribe unique.

"The spectacular and moving photographsallow visitors to engage in a dialogue that will challenge current notions of contemporary Africa's socio-economic culture and economy," says Alison Poor-Donahue, co-curator of the show and Chair of Mount Ida's Design & Digital Media department.

"The panAFRICAproject will establish a repository of images that represents each of 54 individual countries devoid of the preconceived, western notions of distress: conflict, pestilence and poverty, i.e. violence tourism" says Jones.  "We are accurately documenting the highlights and inner workings of the most progressive twenty-first century continent."

"This is an incredible body of work," says Jim Fitts, co-curator and Assistant Professor. "Each of Jones' images is stunning in its own right, but the juxtapositions of the Masai warriors and outdoor markets against the gleam of the most modern infrastructure belies what we have been shown to be the 'real Africa'."

About Lou Jones

Lou Jones' eclectic career has evolved from commercial to the personal. It has spanned every format, film type, artistic movement and technological change.  He maintains a studio in Boston, Massachusetts and has photographed for Fortune 500 corporations, international companies and local small businesses including Federal Express, Nike and the Barr Foundation; completed assignments for magazines and publishers all over the world such as Time/Life, National Geographic and Paris Match; initiated long term projects on the civil wars in Central America, death row, Olympics Games and pregnancy; and published multiple books.

For his photography, Jones has been awarded many accolades from organizations like Communication Arts Magazine, Art Directors Club of Boston, Travel Photographer of the Year and International Photographic Council (United Nations). Nikon recognizes Jones as a "Legend Behind the Lens" and Lowepro has honored him as a "Champion".

Jones has exhibited his eclectic imagery in colleges and schools such as Trinity College, Texas Tech University and New England College, and in collections at the Smithsonian Institution, DeCordova Museum and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. His photography is owned by various collections including the Fogg Museum, Wellesley College and the University of Texas.

Visit us at http://www.mountida.edu