On February 28, 2002, the race was on; nearly 100 of the world’s top photojournalists had 24 hours to document the entire continent of Africa. In this 24-hour journey, the photographers captured images that celebrated the incredible diversity of Africa’s people, geography, and customs. Their assignments brought them from the teeming markets of Marrakesh to the windswept deserts of Namibia. They documented the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, a sultan’s court in Niger, the hip Lagos music scene, and the quiet dignity of a Zambian AIDS hospice. With access to homes, schools, and workplaces across the continent, they created a rich tapestry of African life as it is lived on one day.
The results of this epic photo shoot are now available in a 288-page book, titled A Day in the Life of Africa.
A Day in the Life of Africa is the 14th book in the best-selling “Day in the Life” series which included New York Times bestsellers A Day in the Life of America, and A Day in the Life of the Soviet Union. For the first time in the series, all publishing profits from will go to charity - supporting AIDS education programs in Africa.
The book includes 250 color and black and white photos, an introduction by Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations and a foreword by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. To coincide with book publication, project underwriter Pfizer is launching A Day in the Life of Africa photo exhibition at New York’s Grand Central Terminal, on October 22, 2002. In addition, BMG is releasing A Day in the Life of Africa music CD. A DVD documentary on the project is being created by @radical media.
The project was directed by Day in the Life veteran David Cohen of San Francisco, who has directed eleven titles in the series, and produced by Lee Liberman of Melbourne, Australia.