Afropean: A Journal is the new limited edition photobook version of Johny Pitts’s multiple award winning Afropean: Notes from Black Europe, which through photographs taken across twenty years, gives an alternative map of the continent, taking the reader to places like Cova Da Moura, the Cape Verdean favela-like settlement on the outskirts of Lisbon with its own underground economy, and Rinkeby, the area of Stockholm that is eighty percent Muslim. Pitts visits the former Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where West African students are still making the most of Cold War ties with the USSR, and Clichy Sous Bois in Paris, which gave birth to the 2005 riots, all the while presenting Afropeans as lead actors in their own story.

Johny Pitts presents an ongoing visual documentation to the lives and cultures of Black Europeans bringing together an extensive archive of photography, notebooks and ephemera. Adding new layers of understanding of the Black experience in Europe, and spanning cities such as Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Brussels, Amsterdam and Stockholm, Pitts delves even deeper into the lives, histories, and cultures of Afropeans. 

Spanning a 5 month itinerary around Europe on trains searching for a different side of the continent and answers about his own mixed-race identity, Pitts blends photography with personal ephemera – such as tickets, diary notes, maps, postcards and many more collected over his journey – and featuring a selection of brand new essays written by the artist.  The book is also encoded with secret links to short films and documentaries made by Pitts and his long term collaborator Chris Morris. Only 1500 made, click on the photo below to order.

NEW PODCAST

In addition to the launch of the Photobook, Afropean Podcast is an immersive new series sharing the voices of people whose identities and experiences shed light on a Europe often missing from official national narratives and pocket-sized tourist guides. The podcast explores what it means to be at once African and European. A sort-of travel podcast for Black Europe, it’s hosted by Johny Pitts, author of the award-winning book website, and photographic exhibition Afropean: Adventures in Black Europe.

In each episode Johny visits a different European city with a significant link with the African diaspora: Amsterdam, Marseilles, Berlin, Stockholm, Lisbon and Brussels, to hear untold perspectives in a brand new light. With location sounds and local interviews in the diasporic community Johny interweaves colonial histories and current events, with music and poetry from local artists. The series was recorded between March 2020 and March 2021. National Geographic funded the production. Click on the photo below to listen and subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts.