Paradise Inc.

Paradise Inc. is the culmination of twenty years dedicated to documenting the last days of East Africa's vast natural landscapes. It represents the outcome of countless expeditions into the African bush, where Guillaume Bonn has explored nearly every country on the continent.

In the collective imagination, the African continent remains a paradise for wildlife. This vision has been shaped both by the accounts of ethologists (Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall) and by cinematic successes (Out of Africa, Atari) that have captured the splendor of the landscapes and the richness of an exceptional natural heritage. Above all, it is a universal memory built on clichés.

What remains of this 'paradise' today? How does the continent's economic expansion coexist with the need to preserve this unparalleled natural capital? How are the tensions expressed between the desire to embrace modernity and the necessity to conserve wildlife? How can the explosive growth of sprawling cities on the continent be reconciled with the integrity of territories that shelter indigenous peoples and wild animals? How can we show the dangers of a rapidly growing modernity? How can we illustrate this tension between an imagination rooted in the past and a reality that is catching up with us?

Paradise Inc. is a passionate and fascinating photographic investigation that takes us deep into the heart of these fundamental questions, whose ramifications extend all the way to Europe. Born in Africa and having grown up on the continent, documentary photographer Guillaume Bonn provides in this work a unique and rare perspective on what is really happening in Africa, far from the expected clichés and ready-made solutions.