“A story well told begins with the silence of listening.”
(African proverb. Maybe. Or perhaps we made that up.)
Seen one, seem them all?
We felt the same.
“So,” we thought,“Let’s change that.”
Recentre the Narrative. Reimagine the Story.
Recentred Africa crafts ethical, human-centred stories from across the African continent. Through photography, videography, writing, and audio, we move beyond the weary clichés and superficial takes.
Because we believe authentic storytelling connects us all - and it deserves profound respect, rigorous care, and a radically fresh perspective with every story.
Our Practice?
Listen.
Gather.
Weave.
Step 1: Shut up, and listen.
Hush. Zip it. Be quiet. Button up. Shut up.
We park our egos at the door, pull up a chair, and genuinely hear what people have to say.
No interruptions, no assumptions, no "I know better than you" attitudes.
Truly listening. Not the nod-and-smile kind, but the lean-in, ears-open, phones-on-silent kind of listening.
Step 2: Open up, and gather.
We open up to absorb every detail, emotion, and nuance - snippets of conversations, visual scraps, sonic clues… This isn't just about collecting data; it's about embracing stories as they are offered to us, raw and unfiltered.
Because the threads often come in disguises. What may seem like mundane everyday occurrences can easily, with the right perspective, become a cornerstone for a deeper narrative thread.
Step 3: Pay attention, and weave.
This is often the hard part. Two reasons.
The first: We have to sift through everything we’ve gathered. The photos, the videos, the audio, the written snippets… Everything. Because the good bits often hide themselves in the places we don’t expect. At this point, everything matters.
Then comes the second: How do you find the through-line connecting seemingly unrelated pieces of a story, and then bring it all together in a cohesive, compelling, and emotionally resonating narrative?
We take each thread - every moment, every sound, every whispered word - and carefully position it, not in a way that we want, but in the way the story wants to be positioned.