I had the weirdest impression today while I was looking for pictures for a press release, and simply typing “Africa” in the search bar.
Sometimes, I edit presentation document for myself or for clients, and I have to find images to illustrate my ideas.
The more relevant, the more expressive, the better.
So I normally use google, or websites like unsplash, or getty images, to look for these pictures.
What if I want to find a photo of an african citizen ? Or a worker ? Or a local shop owner ?
According to the internet, Africa is basically wildlife, landscapes, and villagers
When you type Africa, in most of the “image base websites”, prepare to say hello to Lions, Elephants, savannah and sunshine*. And don’t forget the poor villagers that smiles for the photos !
Being a french-senegalese man, I know my two countries, and I know what I can or can’t find there.
I never saw any elephant in Senegal. But google tells me that, well… I am in Africa, so I should see them coming.
Of course, I am not saying that wildlife does not exist in Africa, but I am not sure that the majority of people experience an encounter with an elephant or a Lion, in daily life.
It would be like reducing China to dragon and noodles, or India to buddist monks and curry.
In comparison, if you do a google search (or if you go to unsplash for instance) and type “Europe”, or “America”, you will find — appart from the maps — beautiful pictures of :
For Europe : the european flags, The Eiffel Tower, various monuments (where are the people !?)
For America : The american flag, eagles, buildings and cities landscape, a lot of people handling the American flag, and other typical elements of American culture.
So what does it tell us about African representation in the internet, and our global perception of the continent ?
Is the wildlife a “typical cultural element” of African countries ?
Do people live in the villages ?
I think you know the answer to think question. And if you don’t know, well : The answer is NO
I can talk to you about countless people that I know, that lives in cities, in different countries, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa…
Their are having their own special experience of the african lifestyle, inherent to their country and society.
North Africa is completely different from East, and their are so many langagues and cultures, that you would need so many pictures to represent it… But the internet is basically erasing this particularity.
No wonder why people think that Africans are goat owners, that are chasing Lion in the jungle.
I am very caricatural here, to make my point very clear.
What does the internet tells us about other continent, like Europe, or America (more precisely USA in this case). Looking at the pictures, we can only imagine the glorious feeling of patriotism that americans have, and the beauty and greatness of their cities. We can get a glimpse of the magnificent cultural patrimony of Europe, and landscapes, or gastronomic diversity.
Of course, I am making a very broad statement and
- I didn’t specify in my research typing “African food” “African cities” or other key words.
- And I am only stopping at half of the page research, like anybody would do.
But you will realize quickly that the research results not only give you a false impression of the reality, but also completely hide the true part.
“African politics” is mostly South Africa, and the rest of Africa is wiped.
“African pictures” is mostly wildlife, tribes and women.
“African people” is mostly tribes, women, Mandela, and Akon.
I am not saying that I can’t find precise content if I wanted — but it would require a precise search that most people won’t do.
Your mission today
Internet is supposed to help human to get better information, share knowledge and be connected.
But in this case, the effect is inversed : desinformation.
The images that you find about Africa does not represent it properly
I invite you to do you own research and look at the results.
Try it with “Asia”, “Europe”, “America” and compare.
If Africa suffers from this imagery paradox, that is still persisting in the internet, we may not be the only one.
I only hope that people will be more clever and get passed the first results, to look beyond.
Hopefully, a lot of initiatives are emerging to change the way Africa is perceived online and through image.
There is great websites like Yeelenpix, or Unsplash (yes, I did the dummy research on purpose, but they actually have some of the best pictures of Africa and its people).
The African image review had done a great job in listing all those websites.
Images are important, and reflect what the World thinks or tells about us.
We should take it very seriously.
Have a good day !
P-S: I have to admit that Getty image actually does its best to support a creative imagery of Africa, but the pictures and very expensive.
