Release: October 11, 2019 - National Coming Out Day.

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Limitless Africans is a documentary series by photographer, Mikael Owunna about LGBTQ African immigrants in North America and Europe. Between 2013 and 2017, Owunna traveled to 10 countries photographing and documenting the stories of over 50 LGBTQ African immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. This body of work utilizes framed portraiture to explore notions of diasporic African queerness and self-representation. All of the models select their clothing and adornment, and Owunna collaborates with them on posing and location to build a portrait specific to their geography and expression of queerness. Diverse in setting and framing, each image is a staged collaborative snapshot accompanied by an interview with the sitter.

On National Coming Out Day, October 11, 2019, over forty of Owunna's compelling portraits and accompanying excerpted interviews were published in his first monograph Limitless Africans (FotoEvidence). The work also includes references to queer African history to highlight the presence of same-gender loving Africans on the continent across the historical record. The symbols used in the book are known as Nsibidi, an ancient writing system from south-eastern Nigeria that predates colonization. The book's color and design are based on ancient bronze relics in Nigeria, and Nsibidi adorns the cover and inside pages. The Nsibidi on the book cover above the title depicts two women sleeping together with pillows on either side and with their arms around one another.

Limitless Africans is 250 pages, 8x8 in (21x21 cm) and includes 75 color photographs and texts by Zun Lee and Rafeeat Aliyu, a Nigerian woman writer and documentary filmmaker. The text in the book is in English and French.

The publication of Limitless Africans was made possible with the support of The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, The Opportunity Fund, The Fine Foundation and the Investing in Professional Artists Grants Program, a partnership of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

Limitless Africans by Mikael Owunna was selected as a finalist for the 2019 FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo.

Copyright 2019 FotoEvidence. All rights reserved.
Photographs Copyright © 2019 Mikael Owunna
Foreword Copyright © 2019 Zun Lee
Introduction Copyright © 2019 Rafeeat Aliyu
Photo Editor: Svetlana Bachevanova and Mikael Owunna
Text Editor: David Stuart and Mikael Owunna
Design: Melike Taşcıoğlu and Mikael Owunna
French Translation: Valentin da Costa and Patrick de Werra
French Text Editor: Patrick de Werra and Mikael Owunna

Limitless Africans Book