Eight cross border traders from Southern Africa were lent simple digital cameras for two months in the spring of 2010. Participants ranged from Aida Tomela, a chicken barbecue stall owner in a poor suburb of Maputo, Mozambique, who import chicken from South Africa to support her five children, to Mac Mubango Soko, a middle class importer of hardware from Tanzania to Malawi. After a brief introduction they used their cameras to tell their stories of their lives. The result became a unique photographic exhibition that premiered at an African head of state meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, in August 2010. By October 2011 it had been shown in Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique.

Parallel to the African exhibition a Swedish version also premiered in August 2010 at Galleri Kontrast, Stockholm’s foremost photojournalism gallery. The two exhibitions were interconnected through a TV screen and personal guest books to each trader. The Swedish version has been shown at a dozen venues across the country and will keep touring until the end of 2012. The two exhibitions has together reached more than 10,000 visitors.

Watch a short introductory film about the project:

A project made in close cooperation with:

With financial support in Africa from:

With financial support in Sweden from:

Swedish tour organizers and partners: