When Cristina de Middel told her friends that she was working on a photography project about a 1960s African space program, their first reaction was to laugh. However, it was in this initial reaction that de Middel formed the basis for her project, The Afronauts.

The photography book, which was de Middel's first and was self-published, depicts the seemingly unbelievable story of an imaginative science teacher named Edward Makuka, who sought to make Zambia the first nation to go to outer space. Despite his request for funding being denied by the United Nations, he went ahead and trained 10 men, one woman and two cats.

Makuka would roll his astronauts down a hill in a barrel to simulate weightlessness, and the program ultimately ended when the woman became pregnant from one of the astronauts. However, de Middel's focus on Makuka's optimism and hopefulness challenged viewers to rethink why an African space program could not exist.

Webby
Year: 2014
Place: Winner
Category: Documentary: Series

NPPA's Best of Photojournalism
Year: 2014
Place: Honorable Mention
Category: Visual Column

Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.

Harbers Studios commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to later remain online. The films serve as an introduction of the recipients to the audience as well as a showcase of their work, highlighting the motivations for honoring them with Infinity Awards.

On a conceptual level, The Afronauts confronts a very complicated idea. Cristina de Middel recontextualized images that are seemingly funny, and constructed a narrative focused on optimism, hope and prejudices. For this video to be successful, we had to ensure that de Middel’s images carried this same meaning in our multimedia presentation.

We found and licensed a YouTube video that de Middel said had inspired her project. In it, a journalist reporting on the Zambian space program belittled Makuka and said he had a team of “crackpots.” We juxtaposed this video, along with de Middel’s reaction to it, near the beginning of the video in order to set the proper context before revealing her Afronauts imagery.

MediaStorm interviewed the recipients and gathered images to create stories about each of their careers. The resulting eight short films serve individually as biographical glimpses into the recipients’ work and collectively as a portrait of some of the important contributors to photography today.

This film was a collaboration with Harbers Studio and the International Center of Photography.

Harbers Studios turbocharges the efforts of charitable entrepreneurs by helping them tell their stories. Our goal is to help them articulate and share the value of the work they do so they can inspire others to help them do it. Working with some of the best filmmaking talent in the world, we create compelling visual narratives that enhance the endeavors of organizations working to make the world a better place.

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to the practice and understanding of photography and the reproduced image in all its forms. Through our exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach, we offer an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since our founding, we have presented more than 500 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. ICP is a center where photographers and artists, students and scholars can create and interpret the world of the image within our comprehensive educational facilities and archive.

As a privately funded nonprofit arts and education organization, ICP depends in large part on friends such as you for support. Your generosity is vital to ICP as it continues to grow and succeed in its mission: to present photography's extraordinary power to the public.

There are many ways to give to ICP: Donate to the Annual Fund, create a scholarship, sponsor exhibitions and education programs, contribute to the Collection, or make a planned gift.

Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.

Harbers Studios commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to display online. The films pay tribute to the contributions of each artist to the craft and field of photography and demonstrate ICP's commitment to them.