Gulu Real Art Studio

Book excerpt: This book shows a series of portraits found in the trash bin of the "Gulu Real Art Studio," the oldest photographic studio in Gulu, Northern Uganda. The studio only has a machine that makes four ID images at a time, a number that most clients cannot afford, so the photographer takes single analog pictures, punches out the head with a special device, and discards the rest. In these faceless prints, one's focus shifts to the subject's individual posture and clothing, forming a typological portrayal of a community. Martina Bacigalupo also interviewed clients of Gulu, and their stories, many deeply moving, describe the political, economic, and social conditions common to contemporary East Africa.