Pieter Hugo has packed a lot of photography into a short space of time; despite being in his mid-thirties the Johannesburg-born artist has already amassed a seriously impressive body of work that has been dissected and evaluated for a mid-career retrospective, This Must Be The Place.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the stage for the extraordinary theatre of Hugo’s work. His cast are at times the most human of subjects, mired in poverty. In contrast others characters he captures are unreal, anachronistic, even spirit-like in appearance and setting. The traditional elements of Hugo’s photography are brilliant, but almost as impressive and important is the apparent courage needed to arrive at these images – these are some heavy situations and themes to be getting involved in voluntarily. Post-apartheid, post-genocide, some seemingly post-apocalyptic, The Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest is the venue for the hard-hitting collection, a joint collaboration with The Netherlands’ Hague Museum of Photography. The exhibition will run until 11th August.

Pieter Hugo / Enteriőr

The Hyena Men of Abuja,
Nigeria 2005

Ashleigh McLean, 2011

Pieter Hugo / Enteriőr

Chris Nkulo and Patience Umeh.
Enugu, Nigeria, 2008

Pieter Hugo / Enteriőr

Aissah Salifu, Agbogbloshie Market,
Accra, Ghana 2010

Pieter Hugo / Enteriőr

Pieter Hugo / Enteriőr

Steven Mohapi,
Johannesburg, 2003

Pieter Hugo / Enteriőr