Africa is a treasure trove of culture and diversity. Each with unique beauty, these exquisite cultures and people keep the history and ancestry of Africa alive. Our submissions for Africa’s Photographer of the Year have portrayed many striking portraits and scenes.
Many of which are of the Maasai, a trip from southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, who can often be seen wearing bright red robes with pierced and stretched earlobes. The Himba tribe also feature frequently. Hailing from northern Namibia and Angola, this tribe is well known for their elaborate hairstyles. Their braided hair and skin is covered in a mixture of ground red rock, butter, and fat giving their skin tone a distinctive red hue. Here are some striking portraits of Africa’s people:
Biljana Jurukovski: Tribal Friendship.
Chris Minihane: Maasai warrior laughing on a cliff top in Kenya.
Chris Minihane: A Maasai moran’s braids fly behind him.
Alex van Rijckevorsel: The Himba lady.
Andreas Künk: Maasai near Lake Natron.
Arnfinn Johansen: Market girl in Ghana.
Biljana-Jurukovski-Macedonia: Portrait of two tribal brothers taken during my photographic expeditions in Omo Valley on the banks of Omo river in Ethiopia.
Christine-Decruppe: Getting ready to go fishing in Zanzibar.
Cliff Rosenberg: Maasai boy undergoing his rite of passage in Tanzania.
David Yawalkar: Bushman showing us how to make a fire.
Read more about the Bushmen here.
David Yawalkar: Cultural experience at its best meeting the San people in Ghanzi, Botswana.
Ferdinand Veer: San and a full moon in the Namibian desert.
Gilles Nicolet: Barabaig girl in Tanzania.
Greg Metro: An Ethiopian orthodox priest sitting in front of one of the UNESCO World Heritage rock-hewn churches in Tigray, Ethiopia.
Greg Metro: Africa’s many unique cultures: Omo Valley in Ethiopia is one of the most ethnic and culturally diverse parts of the world.
Harald Pieta: I see you, Himba girl in Namibia.
Helene Wiggett: Africa for me is all about the different cultures and since I have been in Namibia for the past 14 years I find the Ovahimbas very interesting.
Hermann Deceroit: Look of a Maasai.
Hilla Blatt: Helping little brother.
Johanna Ban: Tanzania Maasai land. Africa through my lens means to honor the strength of African women and their dignity.
Natasha Alden: Dhow days in Zanzibar.
Pieta Harald: Looking with eyes full of expectation, Botswana.
Sally: Himba girls. We were visiting a Himba village in Namibia when I spotted these two young girls peeping out of a crack in one of their huts checking us out.
Sally Hinton: Mother’s Love. The love between a mother and child is the same in any part of the world and any nationality. In this special moment a beautiful Himba mother is smiling lovingly to her young child in Namibia.
Vandamme Elisabeth: Dancing.
Werner Kruse: Young Basotho boy in the mountains of Malealea.
Yann Macherez: I always have been mesmerized by the train station, its turmoil. There are so many faces, expressions, emotions and actions to capture. This day the 6am light spread all over the platform.
Yann Macherez: Lost in the middle of KZN in South Africa, I had the chance to stay in the village overnight. As a welcome, around a huge bonfire, those Zulu dancers sang & danced powerfully. A beautiful ritual.
Zach Murphy-: The real Lion Hunters of Kenya’s Maasai Mara.
Featured image: Alexander Radelich
Written by
Jemma's love for nature and culture grew while growing up on her family's dairy farm in the Natal Midlands. Since then she has been a ski lift operator in the Sierra Nevada, an Au Pair in London, an English teacher in Vietnam and is now writing about her favourite continent - Africa.
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