East Wing has launched the first in a series of collaborative educational initiatives with NEWF (Nature, Environment, Wildlife Filmmaking) as part of their Africa Refocused programming in collaboration with National Geographic.
Launched in January 2025, Reimagining African Narratives is a six-month photography fellowship designed to foster responsible collaboration from an African perspective. Working together East Wing and NEWF awarded six participants from across the African continent, the opportunitiy to work with East Wing Artists
Rehab Eldalil (Egypt),
Federico Estol (Uruguay),
and independent publishing consultant Alexa Becker (Germany).
Through a combination of online and in-person workshops the mentorship program supports six participants from across Africa in the development of their long-term photographic projects, challenging traditional documentary formats, and engaging global audiences through hands-on editing and publishing.
Focusing on community-driven narratives, exploring themes related to the natural world, social impact, conservation challenges, environmental impact and climate resilience the group will investigate how to deepen their narratives.
In a world fragmented by inequality, this mentorship emphasizes ethical engagement with communities, the environment’s crucial role, and the importance of diverse perspectives and knowledge sharing.
The program focuses on responsibility, challenging stereotypes, and creating impactful publications.
Reimagining African Narratives aims to foster responsible collaboration in photography, ensuring participants develop clear project statements and communicate their ideas confidently and effectively.
Key themes addressed in the masterclass include:
- Ethics, aesthetics, and relevant theoretical discussions.
- Developing narratives engaged with specific territories.
- Decolonising visual strategies and representations of the Global South.
- Innovative methodologies of community participation through photography.
- Project Conceptualization, editing and construction of visual narratives.
- Exploring different materials and distribution methods (publishing, exhibitions etc).
- Strategies for audience development.
Reimagining African Narratives aims to foster responsible collaboration in photography, ensuring participants develop clear project statements and communicate their ideas confidently and effectively.
More about NEWF and Africa Refocused:
Telling stories of Africa by and from the perspective of African people. While African people have been sharing stories about Africa’s wildlife and natural heritage for centuries, the dominant storytellers in global conversations about Africa’s environment have historically been people who are not native to Africa. National Geographic Explorers Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok created Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF) to refocus these stories — to ensure that the stories of Africa are told by and from the perspective of African people. The Africa Refocused program expands the reach and impact that Noel and Pragna have achieved through NEWF to further train and elevate African nature, environment, and wildlife storytellers.
