Background information

Over the last thirty years, modern Sudan has been dominated by Arab culture and Islam in its political guise as Islamism. It is associated with a sociopolitical system that is intolerant of diversity in Sudanese society, including the Nuba. This national context is key to comprehending the Nuba Mountains as an economic, social, political and cultural space.

The region occupies most of the state of South Kordofan, covering an area of 30,000 square miles. For centuries it has been known as Dar Nuba, or the Nuba homeland. A wide range of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial literature suggests that ancestors of the Nuba were among the first to settle in the greater Kordofan territory, thousands of years before they were disrupted by other, technically more powerful, populations. Moreover, some historians go on to argue that the Nuba, together with their linguistically kindred Nubians, are “autochthonous” to the central Sudanese territory at large.

Today, the Nuba are the main inhabitants of the region. Composed of more than fifty different ethnic groups, they are divided into ten distinct linguistic groupings. Three out of the four major African language families are represented in the Nuba Mountains. The people there are of African origin and followers of Islam, Christianity and traditional religions. The nomadic Arab Baggara are the second most common ethnic group in the region.

In brief, the history of the Nuba people is a tale of sociocultural, economic and political woes, as well as domination and control by external forces. Despite their indigeneity to the Nuba Mountains region and Sudan at large, their past and post-colonial eras were – and still – are characterised by successive structural violence and disruption. Specific reference can be made here to slavery, brutal colonialisation, “institutionalised” insecurity, de-territorialisation and displacement, socio-economic marginalisation, political exclusion, discrimination in terms of cultural identity, and mass killings which amount to ethnocide and genocide.

Although the region is among the richest in Sudan with respect to natural resources, it remains one of the most underdeveloped and poorest parts of the country. Since the 1960s, its agricultural potential has led to the gradual introduction of modern mechanised rain-fed farming, as one aspect of national policies aiming at incorporating the region and its rural occupations into the market economy. The mechanised farming and commercial businesses are controlled by small but extremely influential groups of Jellaba, who are largely merchants from northern and central Sudan. This has been associated with negative impacts on the livelihoods of local populations.

Originally hill communities, the Nuba were compelled to resettle on the plains by government policies to promote covert economic development and social transformation, accompanied by forced cultural change through Arabisation and Islamisation. For example, in 1960 the government expelled Christian missionaries from the Sudan, changed the Indigenous names of children into Arabic names in schools, and economically and politically empowered certain local Muslims to assume leadership positions in communities which were not necessarily majority Muslim. The mission of these leaders has been to progressively transform their communities into Muslim and Arabic-speaking communities.

In short, like many Indigenous sub-national communities in Sudan, the case of the Nuba people illustrates state–society tensions and disruption throughout the formation of the Sudanese state. The recurring war in Sudan is a manifestation of this state–society relationship, associated with sociocultural marginalisation (identity contestation), economic inequality (wealth sharing) and political exclusion (the question of power sharing). Thus, these wars are also struggles about lifestyles and identities.

GK

Photography in Sudan has a rich and evolving history that is deeply intertwined with colonial rule, cultural transformation and political struggles. From the early days of European exploration through to the present digital era, photography has played a vital role in documenting Sudanese life, preserving history and challenging oppressive narratives. Despite war, censorship and limited resources, Sudanese photographers have continued to capture the essence of their country’s realities, shaping its visual legacy.

Photography was first introduced to Sudan back in the mid-19th century by European explorers and colonial officials. During the Turco-Egyptian rule (1821–1885), foreign travellers and military personnel used photography to document the newly conquered region. However, the Mahdist period (1885–1898) saw a decline in photographic activity when the Sudanese Mahdiyya state expelled colonisers. With the establishment of Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1899, photography became a powerful tool for the colonial administration. British officials, archaeologists and anthropologists extensively documented Sudanese archaeological sites and cultural practices. The British photographic unit was created to record government projects, thereby reinforcing imperial control. Greek immigrants in the 1920s contributed to Sudan’s photographic landscape, opening some of the earliest photo studios in Omdurman and other cities. This marked the beginnings of Sudanese studio photography, which became central to documenting people’s personal and family lives. Initially dominated by foreign photographers, local Sudanese professionals began entering the field in the 1940s. Following Sudan’s independence in 1956, photography flourished as a medium for documentation and artistic expression. Gadallah Gubara, one of Sudan’s most influential photographers, began his career at the government’s photographic unit and went on to capture iconic images of Sudan’s independence, which included the national flag being raised.

The 1950s to 1970s were a golden age for Sudanese photography. Studio photography boomed, with well-known photographers operating in Khartoum, Atbara and El-Obeid such as Amin Rashid and Studio Mawahib; the latter became known for family portraits and personal keepsakes. During this era, photography also became a vital tool for journalism, capturing political events, cultural life and daily experiences. However, the main fields remained studio portraiture and government documentation. Sudan became a subject of interest for foreign photographers from the mid-20th century onwards. Notable figures include:
George Rodger (1949), who photographed the Nuba and Latuka people
Leni Riefenstahl (1960s–1970s), who took photographs in two regions of the Nuba mountains
Sebastião Salgado (2006), who captured the lives of the Dinka tribe
While these works brought global attention to Sudan’s diverse cultures, they often exoticised Sudanese communities.

Sudan’s photographic history is one of evolution, adaptation and resistance. From its early use as a colonial tool to its golden era of studio and journalistic photography, and now as a means of activism and war documentation, photography has remained a vital force in shaping Sudan’s national identity. Despite political censorship, economic hardships and armed conflict, Sudanese photographers continue to tell their country’s stories, thereby ensuring that rather than being forgotten, history is preserved through the power of the image.

AK

Leni Riefenstahl’s reinvention of herself as a photographer was hugely significant for her life and career, and it was her trips to the Nuba Mountains that kick-started this shift. She published three illustrated books about the Nuba Mountains and other regions of East Africa: Die Nuba (1973), Die Nuba von Kau (1976) and Mein Afrika (1982). Numerous photo essays also appeared in periodicals and photographic magazines around the world.

Her fame as a leading film propagandist for the Nazis and the resulting interest in both her as a person and in her works survived far beyond the immediate post-war period, giving rise to a full spectrum of responses from critical research to unwavering approval. The ambivalence of the transformation from Hitler’s filmmaker to adventure photographer allowed her to access the world of popular culture. In terms of her life and career as a whole, her Africa phase was relatively short, spanning around twenty years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

Riefenstahl undertook her first trip to Africa in 1956, for a film project in Kenya and Uganda: Die Schwarze Fracht (The Black Cargo) was intended to be a docu-drama about the modern-day trade in enslaved people. The screenplay by Helge Pawlinin was based on the book Hassans Schwarze Fracht (1956) by Hans-Otto Meissner; Heinz Hölscher also formed part of the team in his capacity as cameraman (fig. 1). The project ultimately failed due to unrealistic planning and insufficient funding. At the time, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were still subject to British colonial rule. Riefenstahl was involved in organising safaris and worked with British and German safari coordinators and big game hunters in Africa itself (fig. 2). In the early 1970s she utilised these contacts for the photography safaris she undertook with Horst Kettner. 

It was while Riefenstahl was in Kenya that she encountered Maasai communities for the first time and was fascinated by their appearance. Apart from the Nuba, the Maasai were the only people she engaged with more closely, repeatedly visiting them and taking photographs of them. These photographs were not published until the early 1980s, appearing in Riefenstahl’s third book, Mein Afrika. This illustrated volume is a collection of loosely connected shots from East Africa; not only did it provide an opportunity to reuse the Nuba photographs, it also blended commissioned travel photography with a number of small series that came about more or less incidentally. There is a special focus on the people and animals of the Maasai region. Individual chapters are dedicated to photos of other ethnic groups, most of which resulted from a single visit to the region in question. Accordingly, the book features only a few photos of the Falata nomads, or of the Shilluk, Dinka and Murle, and offers virtually no information about the images.

Riefenstahl herself stated that her interest in the people of the Nuba Mountains was sparked by a photo of two Nuba wrestlers by George Rodger. It was published on 18 December 1949 in the illustrated German weekly magazine Stern, as part of an extended photo essay by Rodger that took the title “The Nuba: They kill their king every seven years”. Riefenstahl repeatedly referred to the photo of the wrestlers, which she claimed to have seen for the first time in Nairobi in 1956, and reproduced it in her own publications. A comparison of the pictures taken by Rodger and Riefenstahl clearly reveals that Riefenstahl’s choice of subject matter and composition were often inspired by Rodger’s shots. 

In 1962, Riefenstahl joined the “Ostafrika-Expedition 1962/63” to East Africa, mounted by the Deutsche Nansen-Gesellschaft e. V. (German Nansen Society). The team consisted of Oskar Luz, who chaired the Nansen-Gesellschaft, his son Horst Luz and son-in-law Waldemar Herz, who were in charge of the visual documentation, the agricultural scientist Rolf Engel and teacher Karl Friedrich Rothe (fig. 3). Riefenstahl convinced the team to visit the Nuba Mountains. This would be their first of their four journeys to the Masakin region in the 1960s and the start of Riefenstahl’s extensive activities as a photographer. It was here that she learned about ethnological methodology and forms of documentation – knowledge that she went on to use in her 1973 book Die Nuba. Divided into five chapters, each containing a section with text and images plus descriptive, explanatory captions, the publication sought to comprehensively portray Nuba culture in Masakin Qusar. 

The photographs are artistically ambitious, emphasising details through the use of close-up shots or using flash equipment to create dramatic lighting. Riefenstahl almost exclusively used colour transparency film and preferred photos to be printed with intense colours and strong contrasts. On further trips in the second half of the 1960s that she organised herself, she mainly attempted to photograph such scenes as she still needed for her projected photo essays. As can be seen in several film recordings, she actively staged situations to achieve this goal.

The trips in 1964/65 and 1968/69 were given the title “Sudan-Expedition”. The team for the first of these consisted of zoologist Dieter Kock and camera assistant Walter Hailer. When the designated cameraman Heinz Hölscher had to cancel at short notice, she hired the well-known Sudanese filmmaker Gadalla Gubara for a brief initial period. Gerhard Fromm then took over the camerawork at the start of February 1965 (fig. 4). Horst Kettner became her sole staff member and partner from 1968 onwards. She long cherished the notion of a Nuba film, although no screenplay or specific planning for the project ever existed, much less the film itself.

Riefenstahl swiftly forged good contacts in Sudan that extended all the way up to the country’s government, and they proved extremely useful for organising her travels. They expedited the issue of visas and permits for photography and filming, and helped her circumvent the censorship of photos showing naked people. In her writings she mentions very few of her Sudanese contacts by name. Thanks to the contents of the estate we can reconstruct meetings with figures such as the painter Ibrahim El-Salahi, who worked at the culture ministry at the time, and the Sudanese president Gaafar Nimeiri, whereas other, less famous people have only been partially identified (fig. 5). Nimeiri even commissioned her to take a portrait of him (fig. 6). 

Riefenstahl financed her trips by asking companies for all kinds of donations in kind, including film stock and technical equipment, camping gear, food and medicines. She took photos on location advertising many of these products, often featuring herself in the shot and almost always with children as her subjects (fig. 7). 

In 1974/75, Riefenstahl and her partner, Horst Kettner, travelled to the Nuba in the Kau Nyaro region for several weeks, after she had lost interest in the changing ways of life in Masakin as a result of advancing Islamisation and modernisation. She was searching for people who lived in even more remote regions, believing that they would be more likely to be autochthonous. Unlike in Masakin, where she had spent more time and had been able to persuade or convince people to pose for her photos, she stated herself that she often photographed people in Kau without their knowledge or against their will. Moreover, those people depicted in the photos who have now been interviewed have stated that it was not clear to them at the time what the photos would be used for and how widely they would be distributed.

Riefenstahl compiled her second book, Die Nuba von Kau, so quickly that it was already published in 1976. The photographs are spectacularly laid out with the focus on ceremonies, including the often bloody form of wrestling known as bracelet fighting, as well as ceremonial dances, scarification and body painting. Riefenstahl took most of the photos of dancing and wrestling with a motor drive camera, which produced bursts of almost identical shots from which she could select individual pictures. Many of the portraits of warriors’ painted faces were taken with a powerful telephoto lens that produces a blurry background, thereby generating a painterly effect. Riefenstahl wrote extensively in her books about the photographic technology she used, motivated partly by her obligations to her sponsors.

In 1977, only a year after Die Nuba von Kau had been published, Riefenstahl and Kettner travelled to the Nuba Mountains once more in the company of journalist Peter Schille in order to capture the changes that were now extremely noticeable in the Kau Nyaro region as well. The Sudanese government imposed stricter regulations regarding clothing and tightened controls on cultural practices – even going so far as to prohibit the latter. The increasing attention of the authorities was also adjudged to have resulted from Riefenstahl’s publications. 

Travel operators in Germany began to offer adventure tours that followed in the footsteps of Leni Riefenstahl. Although Riefenstahl claimed to be dismayed, she enjoyed handing out autographs and refused to acknowledge any connection between her publications and the phenomenon (figs 8 and 9). The account of her 1977 trip was published in GEOmagazine the same year, with its text and photos framed as a eulogy to a dying culture. In the first half of the 1970s Riefenstahl and Kettner learned scuba diving and dedicated themselves more and more to underwater photography, which would be their final major interest.

KP

In the aftermath of her sojourn in Sudan in 1968/69, Riefenstahl wrote letters of thanks to the companies in which she enclosed various prints featuring the products she had received.[5] Most of the subject matter shows situations that bear no relation to the life of the Nuba. For example, Riefenstahl photographed children in the act of washing clothes in a bowl even though these children normally did not wear clothing (fig. 2).

The portions of the estate that have hitherto been studied contain no information about whether the people in the images or their relatives were informed in advance about the intent behind the pictures. When the images were discussed in the Kampala research workshops, it emerged that the representatives of the Nuba community were wholly unaware of their purpose. Riefenstahl also deliberately offered the images to the advertising departments of the companies, as is shown by her correspondence with HAG AG: “[…] Some of the images are so charming and nice and even unusual that I could readily imagine your advertising department wishing to acquire the commercial usage rights for some of them.”[6]

Leni Riefenstahl, it should be added, enclosed original colour slides in this letter in order to highlight the technical quality of the images.[7] The donation from Kodak deserves mention with respect to the quality and results of Riefenstahl’s work. Before leaving for the Nuba Kau in December 1974,[8] she received a large number of rolls of film from the company: 450m of 16mm reels as well as 220 rolls of 35mm colour and slide film. However, this material came with the warning that it had exceeded its shelf life.[9] Among the slides that have been analysed to date, the majority of the colour changes have been observed in older film stock,[10] but it is impossible to gauge the extent to which the expired material affected the quality of the exposures.

So far it has not been possible to perform detailed research and analysis to determine which companies Leni Riefenstahl approached for donations, how many companies she wrote to, or how many accepted or rejected her requests (or the number and nature of the donations she received).

JH

The Nuba Mountains region and its people have proven of great interest to researchers in a variety of disciplines such as anthropology, biology, linguistics, sociology and political science. Early reports and studies date back to the 19th century.
Enrico Ille has edited an overview of the research, while a further bibliography has been compiled by the Lost Research Group. 

1923
The German ethnographer Leo Frobenius publishes a collection of folk tales from Kordofan.
Leo Frobenius: Märchen aus Kordofan, Jena 1923
 
1930
The Austrian anthropologist and photographer Hugo Bernatzik publishes the book: Gari-Gari: Der Ruf der afrikanischen Wildnis, which is also translated into several languages. His photographic subjects include people, villages and landscapes near Talodi, which is located in the Nuba Mountains.
Hugo Bernatzik: Gari-Gari: Der Ruf der afrikanischen Wildnis, Vienna 1930 / Hugo Bernatzik: Gari-Gari: The Call of the African Wilderness, New York 1936
 
1947
The Austrian–British anthropologist Siegfried Frederick Nadel is commissioned by the colonial government to conduct a study of the various population groups in the Nuba Mountains. Thirty years later, Riefenstahl bases her text about the Masakin Qusar in “The Last of the Nuba” on this book.
Siegfried F. Nadel: The Nuba: An Anthropological Study of the Hill Tribes in Kordofan, London und New York 1947
 
1951
The British photographer and co-founder of the Magnum photo agency, George Rodger, travels extensively on the African continent. In 1951, the photographs he has taken in the Nuba Mountains appear in the American magazine National Geographic. A few years later he also brings out a book called Le Village des Noubas, presenting his black-and-white photographs from 1949. Early colour photographs of the Nuba by Rodger have since been published on the Magnum-Website.
Robin Strachan (Text) and George Rodger (photos): “With the Nuba Hillmen of Kordofan”, in: National Geographic, Februar 1951
George Rodger: Le Village des Noubas, Paris 1955
 

1956, Kenya and Uganda
Riefenstahl makes her first trip to Africa with the intention of making a docufiction film on the modern-day trade with enslaved people. The project is entitled Die Schwarze Fracht (The Black Cargo), based on the book Hassan’s Schwarze Fracht by Hans-Otto Meissner, which is published in the same year. According to Riefenstahl herself, it is during this trip that she sees a photo of two Nuba wrestlers by George Rodger and decides to travel to the Nuba Mountains.
 
1956
Sudan gains independence.
 
1962/63, Sudan
Riefenstahl joins the “Ostafrika-Expedition 1962/63” mounted by the Nansen-Gesellschaft (Nansen Society). The purpose of this research trip to East Africa led by Oscar Luz is to collect anthropological, biological and other data. Luz’s son Horst is in charge of the photographic and filmic documentation. Oskar and Horst Luz as well as Riefenstahl do a great deal of filming and photography during their visit. About a dozen anthropological films in black and white can now be found in the TIB (Leibniz-Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften und Universitätsbibliothek) library in Germany, and numerous black-and-white photographs are held by the collections of institutions such as the Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) in Berlin. The entire journey lasts from the end of November 1962 to March 1963; the travellers probably spend two months of this time in Masakin.
 
1962/63
Uganda gains independence in 1962, followed by Kenya the year after.
 
1964/65, Sudan, Masakin region, Tadoro
This second trip to the Nuba Mountains is self-organised. Various cameramen are involved, including Gadalla Gubara (briefly) and later Gerhard Fromm.
First publication of a series of photographs about the Nuba in a German illustrated magazine.
Leni Riefenstahl: “Requiem für eine Nuba” (Requiem for a Nuba), Kristall, 1964
 
October 1964
Revolution in Sudan
 
1966, Sudan, Masakin region, Tadoro
Riefenstahl makes a brief trip to the Nuba Mountains over Christmas. Oskar und Horst Luz publish an article in National Geographic about the Nuba people.
Oskar und Horst Luz: “Proud Primitives: The Nuba People”, National Geographic, 1966
 
1967
Publication of photographs by Riefenstahl in a German educational booklet and in a magazine accompanying a British newspaper.
Leni Riefenstahl: Bei den Nuba von Kordofan (With the Nuba of Kordofan), FWU, Göttingen 1967
Leni Riefenstahl: “Innocent Tribes of Nuba Mountains”, Sunday Times Magazine, 1967
 
1968/69, Sudan, Masakin region, Tadoro
First trip with Horst Kettner, who becomes Riefenstahl’s partner both professionally and privately. She is disappointed to find signs of modernity in Nuba societies and wants to discover people who are living even more remotely. A short trip to Kau Nyaro sparks her interest in returning to photograph the people as well as their ceremonies and body art.
Leni Riefenstahl: “Zärtlich sind die schwarzen Riesen” (The Black Giants Are Gentle), Stern, 1969
 
1969
Gaafar Nimeiry takes power in Sudan as the leader of a successful coup d’état against the government of President Ismail al-Azhari.
 
1970/71, Kenya and Tanzania
Photo safaris with Horst Kettner.
 
1972
James Faris is an American cultural anthropologist who conducts research on body art in the Kau Nyaro region in the late 1960s while also teaching at the University of Khartoum. Riefenstahl refers to his book in her publication “People of Kau” (1976).
James Faris: Nuba Personal Art, London 1972
 
1973
Publication of Riefenstahl’s first photo book on the people of Masakin. The photographs have been taken over a period of eight years. It becomes a major commercial success and is translated into many (Western) languages.
Leni Riefenstahl: Die Nuba: Menschen wie von einem anderen Stern, Munich 1973
Leni Riefenstahl: The Last of the Nuba, London and New York 1973
 
1974, Sudan, Masakin and Kau Nyaro
Trip to the Masakin region to present the book The Last of the Nuba and first short trip to Kau Nyaro region with Horst Kettner. Publication of a feature story on the people of Kau in a popular German illustrated magazine.

1975, Sudan, Kau Nyaro
Journey to the Kau Nyaro region with Horst Kettner. Publication of a feature story on the people of Kau in a popular German illustrated magazine.
Leni Riefenstahl: “Nuba: Das Fest der Messer und der Liebe” (Nuba: The Festival of Knives and Love), Stern, 1975
 
1976
Publication of a second photo book on the people of Kau. This time, Riefenstahl takes the photographs on a single trip lasting just a few weeks, which is too brief a period to build up trust with the people there; she often takes photos from a great distance using a powerful zoom lens. During the ceremonies she uses a motor drive that allows her to capture as many frames as possible, and then subsequently selects her favourites. This book also enjoys great commercial success and is widely distributed, attracting considerable attention for its dramatic aesthetic style.
Leni Riefenstahl: Die Nuba von Kau, Munich 1976
Leni Riefenstahl: People of Kau, London and New York 1976
 
1977, Sudan
Short trip to Tadoro and Kau that focuses on the changes brought about by Islamisation and modern influences.
“Nuba: Nachruf auf die Menschen von Kau” (Nuba: Obituary for the People of Kau), GEO, 1977 (Text Peter Schille, photos Leni Riefenstahl)
 
1978
Since the early 1970s Riefenstahl turns her attention to underwater photography and filming, the results of which appear in an initial publication in 1978.
Oswald Iten: Schwarzer Sudan (Black Sudan), Kreuzlingen 1978
Leni Riefenstahl: Korallengärten, Munich 1978
Leni Riefenstahl: Coral Gardens, London and New York 1978
 
1982
Publication of photos from East Africa, presenting landsapes and wildlife as well as ethnic groups such as the Maasai, Shilluk and Dinka.
Leni Riefenstahl: Mein Afrika, Munich 1982
Leni Riefenstahl: Vanishing Africa, New York, 1982
Oswald Iten: Fungor: Ein Nuba-Dorf wird ruiniert (Fungor: A Nuba Village Is Ruined), Frankfurt, Berlin and Vienna 1982
 
1989
James Faris: Southeast Nuba Social Relations, Aachen 1989
 
1990
Riefenstahl’s second photo book on underwater worlds is published in German and English.
Leni Riefenstahl: Wunder unter Wasser, Munich 1990
Leni Riefenstahl: Wonders Under Water, London 1990
 
2001
Suleiman Musa Rahhal and International Nuba Coordination Centre: The Right to Be Nuba: The Story of a Sudanese People’s Struggle for Survival, Lawrenceville, NJ 2001
 
2005 and 2010
Following her death in 2003, the German art and photo book publisher Taschen-Verlag publishes a compilation of all her Africa books, framed by an introductory essay and a detailed biography; the first edition in 2005 appears in four languages (German, English, French and Japanese), while there are three versions of the second edition in 2010 (German, English and French).
Africa. Leni Riefenstahl, Cologne 2005 and 2010
 
KP