Welcome to African Visual Storyteller! Your weekly guide to African photographers, exhibitions, and creative opportunities.

This space exists to support visibility, connection, and real pathways for African creatives. Thank you for being part of our growing ecosystem.

African Visual Storytellers of the Week #68

This week we celebrate World Photography Day by showcasing works by photographers who have participated in our programming from Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ethiopia, Congo DR and Nigeria as our storytellers of the week.

We invite you to lead an Unpublished Africa Photo Walk in your city

We have recently received numerous requests for programming in new locations, and we are officially opening this up to our wider network. Should there be a host, you can also volunteer as a co-host.

Photo walks have proven to have an impact of photography communities growth and serve as a portfolio building tool for new and experienced photographers.

Sign up here:

https://airtable.com/appA7NAnNNFXjEpf7/pagzcVfxfIIiwQFSb/form

For those who have already applied, please look out for an email from us this week.

Upcoming Events and Photo Walks

Register for our August Lusaka Photo Walk 🇿🇲

🇿🇲 Register for Lusaka Photo Walk:

• 🗓️ 23 August 2026

• ⏰ 2 PM

• Register: https://airtable.com/app6YmuLQIV96rgc2/shrK0yTEfmxuvz52Q

Register for our August Photo Walk 🇰🇪

 🇰🇪 Register for Thika Photo Walk:

• 🗓️ 23 August 2026

• ⏰ 11 AM

• Theme: Black and white

• Register: https://airtable.com/appoOCu5Be7LsDtNg/shrOaYg5PUawyGUch?

In the Unpublished White Papers

Why African Storytellers Matter in the International Community

As we approach World Photography Day on 19 August, it is worth asking what happens when African stories enter the international visual landscape, and, importantly, who gets to tell them.

Our white paper, Distributed Cultural Infrastructure in Africa: Lessons from Unpublished Africa Photo Week, makes a strong case for looking at photography not simply as an artistic practice, but as part of the infrastructure through which communities participate, represent themselves, and connect with wider audiences. The paper also highlights the importance of creating opportunities for African visual storytellers to develop their work, build networks, and participate in professional spaces.

A few things stand out:

• African photography contributes to a more complete global picture of the continent. International audiences encounter Africa through images, but the systems that shape which images become visible have historically been concentrated in major cities and established cultural networks. This can create uneven patterns of visibility and validation. Supporting photographers across the continent creates more opportunities for African experiences to be documented and represented from within.

• African storytellers bring context that cannot be separated from place. The UAPW model deliberately allowed local facilitators to shape activities according to their own communities and contexts, rather than imposing a single centralised approach. This matters because storytelling becomes stronger when photographers have the agency to determine what is important, how it should be represented, and which narratives deserve attention.

• International visibility needs local infrastructure behind it. It is easy to focus on the final photograph that reaches an international audience, but sustainable participation requires much more: networks, mentorship, professional development, exhibitions, platforms, and opportunities to connect with peers. The paper shows how distributed partnerships can create these opportunities beyond established cultural centres, while helping photographers strengthen portfolios, expand networks, and develop leadership.
  This is why World Photography Day can be more than a celebration of the medium.

It can also be a moment to consider whose photographs are being seen, whose perspectives are being circulated, and what systems make that visibility possible.

African photography has an important role in the international community because it does not simply document Africa for the rest of the world. It allows African photographers to participate in shaping how the continent is understood, remembered, questioned, and imagined.

But that participation cannot depend only on individual talent. It requires an ecosystem that makes visibility possible across different cities and communities. The growth of Unpublished Africa Photo Week from three cities in 2024 to fifteen cities across nine countries in 2025 demonstrates one way this can happen: through local partnerships, distributed leadership, and networks that connect photographers without requiring them to leave their communities to participate.

As we celebrate photography on 19 August, perhaps the bigger question is not simply what photographs are being made, but whose stories are being given the opportunity to travel.

The paper is now available on ResearchGate:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403346704_Distributed_Cultural_Infrastructure_in_Africa_Lessons_from_Unpublished_Africa_Photo_Week

Photo Walk Archive

Were you part of an Unpublished Africa Photo Walk? We’d love to see what you captured! Upload your photos to the Photo Walk Archive and help us document the journey.

Upload here: https://photowalk.unpublished.africa/

Other Opportunities:

• ARD South Residency Artists - (ARD Art Institution) - deadline: 01 September 2026

• International Photography Awards ( Xposure ) - deadline: 05 September

• FESPACO 2027 – Call for Films ( FESPACO ) - deadline: 20 September

• MENA Panorama: A Regional Open Call by PhotoVogue ( Vogue ) - deadline: 24 September

• Sony World Photography Awards ( World Photography Organisation ) - deadline: 05 January 2027

• Kekere Storytellers Fund (Africa No Filter) - rolling deadline

• Call for Applications ( International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) ) - rolling deadline

• Minority Africa Call for Storytellers ( Minority Africa ) - rolling deadline

• Pulitzer Center Grant ( Pulitzer Center ) - rolling deadline

Help Us Improve What We’re Building

If you’ve joined an Unpublished Africa photo walk, exhibition, programme, or conversation, we’d really appreciate a quick Google rating and review.

It takes a few minutes, and it goes a long way in helping us build better infrastructure for African creatives.

👉 Leave a review here: https://g.page/r/CYo40kkDN_4UEBM/review

Thank you for being part of the journey and for helping shape what comes next.

➡️ Share this newsletter with a friend or colleague interested in the African creative economy!

Thank you for continuing to build with us.

More conversations, walks, and opportunities ahead.

— Unpublished Africa