Portraits of the Kings of Africa
Daniel Lainé is a French photographer and 1991 World Press Photo winner. His photo collection of over 70 African monarchs was first published by Ten Speed Press in 2000.
Eighteen of the images and their accompanying descriptions can be viewed on Tamarin Photo.
In Cameroun, the Baba of Rey-Bouba made me wait eight days in a cabana. In Nigeria, for fifteen days I followed the traces of the Oni of Ife, who was constantly traveling across the country. In South Africa, the king of the Ndebele made me spend half a day with his royal concil, and then sent me to get an authorization from the government of Kwa-Ndebele. From secretaries to various offices, I found myself before a white civil servant, who threatened to have me expulsed for having violated the state of emergency. Ten days of discussions and no photos.
On the other hand, there was also all the rest: the African voyage. The local transports and the unexpected meetings, the “good guys”, ambassadors or peasants, the “bad guys”, that I met more often in the ministeries than in the streets, impressive moments with their Majesties and their subjects, in the silence and self-communion of a ritual, the rythms, and this mad laugh of Africa that destiny interrupts so often.
King Erediauwa, pictured above, graduated from Cambridge University as a young prince. 2009 will be his 40th year as monarch of the Edo Empire.
