Untitled, from the series The Afronauts, 2012

Cristina de Middel

In 1964, a Zambian teacher set an ambitious plan in motion: he wanted Zambia to put the first African on the moon.

Photographer Cristina De Middel chose a little-known episode from Zambia&rsquo;s history as the starting point for her project The Afronauts: a space programme which suddenly entered Zambia in the space race with the United States and Russia. Due to a lack of financial resources, however, the initiative was doomed to fail.
Fifty years later, De Middel reconstructs this story, using her own imagination. Foam shows the outcome of this project in an exhibition that makes no reference to disappointment or defeat: instead we view fantasy-rich and colourful images full of humour, with wonderful self-created props, unexpected twists and unusual visitors.
<img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x595/cca89e5e5b/595_jambo_from_the_series_the_afronauts_2012_c_cristina_de_middel.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="595" /> Jambo&nbsp;from the&nbsp;series&nbsp;The Afronauts, 2012&nbsp;&copy; Cristina De Middel
In The Afronauts, De Middel combines set-up photography with copies of typed letters and reproductions of vintage photos. Although The Afronauts is in fact based on a failed undertaking, the project includes nothing that refers to the failure &ndash; on the contrary.
The photos have an upbeat look thanks to De Middels&rsquo;s fanciful space suits, playful astronaut training sessions and a Zambian flag with a smiley face. Other characters also appear against the background of the rugged landscape of Alicante, including an elephant presented as a space creature and a cat dressed in a starred costume, which according to the story also was planned to be launched into space.
The self-published book The Afronauts (2012) was sold out within two months. The publication was shortlisted for the Aperture First Photobook of 2012. Cristina De Middel has recently been nominated for the Deutsche B&ouml;rse Photography Prize 2013.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Delta Lloyd, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.
ABOUT CRISTINA DE MIDDEL Cristina De Middel (born 1975 in Alicante, Spain) is a documentary photographer and artist currently living and working in Uruapan, Mexico. After a successful photojournalist career of nearly ten years, De Middel discovered that she had become disappointed in photojournalism and that her viewpoint toward the consumption of &lsquo;authentic&rsquo; images and the untruths that accompany them was becoming increasingly cynical. The Afronauts is De Middels&rsquo;s first successful attempt to design her own ideal world. De Middel&rsquo;s work shows that fiction can serve as the subject of photography just as well as facts can and that our expectation that photography must always make reference to reality is flawed.

Cristina De Middel

Created by Cristina De Middel in 2013. Using inkjet on cotton paper as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 100 x 100 cm. The work explores genres such as the 

The portrait potrays a Zambian man in a space uniform. The work is part of the series 

visible in

The starting point for the project The Afronauts is derived from the history of Zambia. A space program started by a school teacher suddenly enlisted Zambia to join the United States and Russia in the space race. The hoped-for outcome was the first African on the moon. However, a lack of financial aid meant that this ambitious initiative was doomed to fail. Fifty years later, De Middel reconstructs this story, using her own imagination.

Untitled from the series Afronauts

The Supremes, 1965

A mother waits to hold her murdered son one last time before he departs to eternity Qabatiya Jenin 2023

Ulay, Amsterdam 2018

Ana, 1950s © Saul Leiter / Saul Leiter Foundation.

Harlem, 1960 © Saul Leiter / Saul Leiter Foundation.

Film still, 2024

Videos

Still from Photography is... Hoarding

Photography is... Hoarding: Navigating the endless flood of digital images

Articles

Still from the video Foam 3h: Ece Gökalp - After Anahit, 2023

Foam 3h: Giath Taha Becoming a Ghost

Still from Foam 3h: Sem Langendijk - Haven, 2023

Foam 3h

Still from the video Foam 3h Steffi Reimers - Guilty Grounds

Foam 3H: Steffi Reimers Guilty Grounds

Explore

For over 75 years, the photographers of Magnum Photos have not only created photographic icons on both major events and hidden stories but have simultaneously worked on commission. The exhibition 

Open for Business - Magnum Photographers on Commission

 shows a side of Magnum that the general public is hardly aware of, and with which its photographers rarely promote themselves. In eight chapters, the audience is taken on a variety of commercial assignments: from 

 group assignments for governments to the hippest fashion photography; and from chic publications for major industries to reporting in the service of NGOs.

Gucci makeup fashion shoot, Brooklyn, New York City, USA, 2019

Foam

A young actor working with the Fani Raghman Ani group, an association defending human rights in Tunisia, showing a taffoo on his back saying ’freedom’ in Arabic. Tunis, Tunisia, 2017

Humanitas dementia centre hairdresser, Deventer, Holland, 2019

Mexico, 2018

New York City, USA, 1953

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Moscow, 2016

Marilyn Monroe in the Nevada desert going over her lines for a difficult scene she is about to play with Clark Gable in the film “The Misfits”, Nevada, USA, 1960

cristina-de-middel