Pieter Hugo, Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Lagos, Nigeria

In this landmark series, Hugo documented a group of itinerant performers in Nigeria who travel with hyenas, baboons, and snakes, presenting traditional performances and selling herbal medicines. Set against the backdrop of rapidly changing urban landscapes, the photographs explore the complex tensions between nature and culture, tradition and modernity, human and animal.

The resulting images are both visually striking and deeply thought-provoking, and have become defining works of contemporary African photography. Through carefully composed portraits, Hugo captures the contradictions of post-colonial society while challenging viewers to reconsider questions of identity, power, survival, and cultural representation.