Africa Is a Country

Not just some passing foreign journalist

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Not just some passing foreign journalist

By
Elnathan John

Lawyer and writer Elnathan John interviewed U.S. photographer Glenna Gordon. Listen.

A wedding photographer snaps a northern bride with her husband and brother at a ceremony in Kano, Nigeria (Glenna Gordon).

Glenna Gordon is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn. She takes evocative pictures of everyday life in Nigeria, showing a special interest in Northern Nigeria. In this interview, Glenna opens up on misconceptions of the north, what drives her as a photographer and storyteller, the ways in which she captures intimate moments and her most recent project: photographing belongings from the abducted Chibok school girls.  She shows, in her words and in her work how invested she is in the lives of her subjects- not just some passing foreign journalist looking for a third world photo. Elnathan speaks to her in Abuja. Here.

Image from Glenna Gordon’s “Nigeria Ever After” Series.

Further Reading

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.