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shikra owner Eric Makin talks to photojournalist and 6-times "World
Press Award" winner Henning Christoph about his numerous photographic
assignments in Africa.
Where was
your first photographic assignment in Africa?
My first assignment was in Morocco and Tunisia; I was there for a German
relief agency to produce general documentation on these countries, for example
about poverty.
What year was that?
1969
What sort of equipment did you use at that time?
At that time I was using two Leicas’ with four lenses;
a 35 mm Sumicron, plus 50, 80 and 135 mm lenses.
Did you have a zoom lens?
No, at that time they didn’t have zoom lenses for Leica’s. I
didn’t carry much equipment; I didn’t use a flash or a tripod,
all that came much later.
Did you photograph in colour or in black and white?
Only black and white; I used Tri-X film for everything as it was a fast
film for the time and was the best quality.
Could
you tell us a few of the African countries in which you have taken photographs?
In the beginning during the early seventies I visited Ghana several times
and then I did a lot of work in Ethiopia during the first big drought of
1974. I was there when Haile Salassie was overthrown and got caught up in
the coup. That was a pretty “hairy” experience; in fact I was
caught up in a few coups. I was in Ghana when Rawlings took over from Acheampong.
In addition I was in Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea. At
a later stage I was in Rwanda covering the genocide there; Congo, in Cameroon
I did a lot work, Zambia.
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