Belgian photographer Benoit Feron is currently exhibiting his extensive work documenting Africa at La Mercerie gallery in Arles, running from August 12-24, 2025. A master of black and white photography, Feron has spent two decades capturing the diverse realities of the African continent, visiting 19 countries across 70 trips and taking thousands of photographs. His humanistic adventure is also chronicled in his book "African Odyssey" (Éditions Odyssées), which presents a magnificent and fascinating portrait of what he calls "his Africas."
Feron's vision of Africa deliberately avoids folkloric stereotypes, superficial beauty shots, and voyeuristic portrayals of poverty. His approach is guided by a quote from Léopold Sédar Senghor that serves as an epigraph in his book: "Africa is one, but plural. It is a mosaic of cultures, languages, traditions. It moves forward, it evolves, it transforms, while preserving its profound identity." This philosophy shapes his documentary work as he attempts to capture the beauty and dynamism of African youth—a generation that is creative and energetic despite facing numerous challenges.
One of the most significant images in Feron's collection tells the remarkable story of Ajak, a young Sudanese refugee. The photographer discovered this subject through an unexpected social media connection. While at Nairobi airport in Kenya, a photo posted by his partner Anne-Françoise Tanier, also a photographer, was liked by a young Kenyan street photographer. This digital encounter led to a collaboration and a photo shoot in Kibera, described by Feron as "a giant slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, probably the largest in Africa." In this place where creativity and poverty intersect, where precarity and artistic dynamism coexist, Feron met Ajak.
The iconic photograph shows the young refugee with his torso painted by a street artist, creating stunning images that convey anxiety, determination, and strength. Feron was immediately struck by Ajak's natural presence and incredible ability to pose. "When I photograph Ajak, I realize that this guy has an incredible presence. Posing for him is incredibly natural. I'm really amazed, so we spend a whole morning taking photos with him," the photographer recalled. The story took an extraordinary turn months later when Feron discovered through social media that Ajak, now known as Stagon, had achieved his dream of walking the runway at Paris Fashion Week for Jean Paul Gaultier in June 2022, just months after the October 2021 photograph was taken. Ajak has since participated in other fashion campaigns and now lives in Germany.
Feron's fascination with Africa began later in life, when he discovered the continent in his forties during an animal safari. This initial trip sparked an obsession with cheetahs that would change the trajectory of his career. "While doing this safari, I fall in love with cheetahs. I'm really in love, I dreamed about them every night for six months and so I go back very quickly with a friend to the same area," he explained. During these wildlife photography trips, he encountered the Maasai people, leading to his first human documentary work. "I went on an immersion in a Maasai village on the border between Tanzania and Kenya. A very big village. And there, I lived with a village guide. I stayed in this village for a week and I was fascinated. And that was my first photo report, it was the beginning. It was in 2003 or 2004."
Since that transformative experience, Feron has crisscrossed the continent from Djibouti to Tanzania, passing through Kenya and Ethiopia. His photographs capture men and women, clothing and adornments, jewelry and body paintings. Often working in powerful black and white, he sculpts light on bodies where scarifications emerge, telling the story of each people. Each subject proudly displays their belonging and the perpetuation of their traditions. Explaining his choice of black and white photography to Chasseurs d'images magazine, Feron said: "It changes everything. It removes the decor, the colors that sometimes flatter the eye, to go straight to the essential: expression, emotion, human context. It's a more stripped-down approach, more intimate too."
As a photographer and witness, Feron is acutely aware of the continent's suffering, including climate disruption and resource exploitation by countries like China and Russia. His anger is evident when discussing the world's disdain for Africa. "We don't realize it, but it's a real catastrophe," he emphasizes. "You really see waste, packaging and stuff with labels. You see products that come from France, from Europe and that end up there because they are simply waste that is not treated at home and that is just dumped there, in a huge dump."
Despite acknowledging Africa's challenges, Feron maintains an optimistic perspective and wants to add positive and respectful notes to the conversation. "You have to go see modern Africa, contemporary Africa. And especially in the slums. And there's something that strikes me there, it's the dynamism of youth. All these young people have creativity, feel a desire to move forward. Energy. And you feel that things are moving. In addition, today, they are very connected so they are very informed. They are increasingly educated. And finally, I think they're brilliant. When you see how the fashion world, for example, is exploding with all these creations that are starting to come to us..."
This hope and optimism are what Feron aims to share through both his Arles exhibition and his book "African Odyssey." The exhibition runs through August 24, 2025, at La Mercerie gallery, located at 12 rue du président Wilson in Arles, offering visitors a chance to experience Feron's unique perspective on the diverse and dynamic continent he has spent decades documenting.
