Our work/
Africa Reframed
Academy
Educational programs I Workshops I Artistic Collabortions
Africa Reframed Academy creates spaces where visual storytellers can develop their craft and connect to global opportunities. Working with photographers, institutions, and creative communities across Africa, we help build platforms for professional development and market access. The Academy complements our Archive and Experiences work as part of Africa Reframed's integrated approach to visual storytelling.
Educational
programs
We pioneer practical approaches to photography education, creating programs that combine training with real market opportunities. Working with the National Photographers Union and regional photography schools has helped us refine this approach. The Stock Program developed at CFP Bamako demonstrated how this works in practice. Through partnership with Getty Images and support from development institutions, we connected professional training directly to market access. This allowed photographers to produce and license work while developing their skills - showing how education and commercial photography can work together effectively.
Participants
Aboubacar Traore
“I sell my photos through the stock program at an image bank and make money that way, and now I have been able to open up some beauty salons. That way stock photography has enabled me to give jobs to other people, so unemployment has decreased a little this way. Thanks to the beauty salons and my stock photography sales, a lot of things have changed to my advantage”
Massaran Diankoumba
“I joined the stock program because it is a great way for photographers to get promoted. There are so many photographers in Mali, especially here in Bamako, and it’s difficult to get noticed. But thanks to the stock program, a photographer can get some attention and the chance to show his or her work. Furthermore, it allows the photographers to have a better life because they can make money by it”
John Kalapo
“We are taught to create a scene and make a good composition, and we learned a lot, that I knew nothing about before. I learned a whole new type of photography. Stock photography is much more professional, because you are forced to get to know your equipment, and you need to know exactly what to do when you are in the field”
Workshops
Our workshops combine technical training with market understanding, helping photographers create imagery that resonates across contexts. From Sierra Leone's National Photographers Union to Kenya's PAWA254 arts center, we work with established institutions to build capacity and open new pathways for visual storytellers. Through theoretical teaching, practical assignments, and professional feedback, photographers develop comprehensive skills - from research and composition to post-production and business development. Examples of our workshop partnerships include:
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Workshop with the National Photographers Union, engaging with their 10,000+ members across Sierra Leone to explore market opportunities and develop professional skills. The program focused on helping photographers create marketable imagery while building sustainable business practices. Working with both experienced and emerging photographers, we explored techniques for accessing broader markets while maintaining creative vision.
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Ongoing collaboration with CFP Bamako photography school, focusing on stock photography and sustainable business development. The program helps photographers build independent careers through continuous skills development. Through intensive workshops combining technical training and market understanding, participants develop both creative and business capabilities. This partnership demonstrates how focused collaboration can create lasting professional opportunities.
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Partnership with the Photojournalists Association of Kenya at PAWA254 arts center, focusing on developing professional photojournalism skills for emerging photographers. The workshop combined practical assignments with critical feedback sessions, helping participants refine both technical skills and narrative approaches. Working at PAWA254, Nairobi's hub for creative and social innovation, photographers explored new ways to tell compelling visual stories.
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Visual storytelling workshop in collaboration with Gambia Media Support and The Gambia Press Union, combining theoretical training with practical assignments to develop comprehensive photography skills. Participants learned how to research, plan, and execute photography assignments while developing their visual narrative abilities. Through teacher and peer criticism sessions, photographers refined both technical skills and creative approaches.
Artistic
collaborations
Our collaborative projects unite creative exploration with cultural heritage. Working within regional photographic traditions, these initiatives show how focused collaboration can create meaningful artistic dialogue between past and present.
Through structured creative exploration, we collaborate with photographers engaging with cultural narratives. Each project combines artistic development with cultural documentation - creating work that contributes to broader visual conversations.
The Bamako Nights series emerged from collaboration between Commerce & Culture and students from CFP Bamako, exploring the city's vibrant nightlife culture. Building on Mali's rich photographic heritage - particularly the work of renowned photographers Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé who documented Bamako's transformation from colonial rule to independence - students created their own visual studies. Through categories like couples, portraits, and interiors, they developed both artistic and documentary approaches. The resulting images offer unique insights into contemporary urban culture while paying homage to Mali's photographic tradition.
