PARADISE INC. Este artículo no está disponible.PARADISE INC

Paradise Inc. is the culmination of twenty years dedicated to documenting the last days of East Africa's vast natural landscapes. It represents the outcome of countless expeditions into the African bush, where Guillaume Bonn has explored nearly every country on the continent.

In the collective imagination, the African continent remains a paradise for wildlife. This vision has been shaped both by the accounts of ethologists (Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall) and by cinematic successes (Out of Africa, Atari) that have captured the splendor of the landscapes and the richness of an exceptional natural heritage. Above all, it is a universal memory built on clichés.

What remains of this 'paradise' today? How does the continent's economic expansion coexist with the need to preserve this unparalleled natural capital? How are the tensions expressed between the desire to embrace modernity and the necessity to conserve wildlife? How can the explosive growth of sprawling cities on the continent be reconciled with the integrity of territories that shelter indigenous peoples and wild animals? How can we show the dangers of a rapidly growing modernity? How can we illustrate this tension between an imagination rooted in the past and a reality that is catching up with us?

Paradise Inc. is a passionate and fascinating photographic investigation that takes us deep into the heart of these fundamental questions, whose ramifications extend all the way to Europe. Born in Africa and having grown up on the continent, documentary photographer Guillaume Bonn provides in this work a unique and rare perspective on what is really happening in Africa, far from the expected clichés and ready-made solutions.

Guillaume Bonn is a documentary photographer with over 20 years of experience capturing the complexities of conflicts, social issues, and environmental challenges across Africa. A contributor to publications such as The New York Times and Vanity Fair and a current fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London, Bonn has authored five books, including Mosquito Coast: Travels from Maputo to Mogadishu, Le Mal d’Afrique: A Journey into Old and New Africa, and Peter Beard: Scrapbooks from Africa and Beyond. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, earning him accolades such as The CAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography, the American Photography prize, PDN Photo prize, a Pulitzer grant, and nominations for the Pictet Prize.

Jon Lee Anderson is an American author and journalist who began his career in the early 1980s, reporting on Central America’s civil wars. He has reported around the world as a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1998 and has also profiled a number of international public figures, including Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Augusto Pinochet, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and King Juan Carlos. One of the most respected American journalists of his generation, Anderson is also the author of a biography on the iconic Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, as well as several other books. He is currently writing biography of Fidel Castro. He resides in Dorset, England, with his wife and three children.

Ezekiel Ole Katato is a Maasai elder and culturalist working to secure the future of the Kenyan environment, wildlife, and Maasai generations to come. For three decades, he has supported the education of Maasai girls, promoting and facilitating access to stable and long-term schooling. He is also dedicated to  establishing a peaceful coexistence between the Maasai and their elephant neighbors, securing and protecting 1.2 million hectares of land that not only protects the elephants and the environment, but also generates direct and sustainable income to rural villagers. Ole Katato conceptualized  managed “Walking with the Maasai,” a six-day walking expedition through Maasai land following the footsteps of Joseph Thomson, the first European explorer to cross Maasai land in 1883. Women, girls, and youth groups have been supported through these walks.