South African Photographer: Pieter Hugo

Pieter Hugo was born in 1976 and grew up in Cape Town. He is a white South African, working mainly in and around his home country. Among other awards, he won first prize in the Portraits section of the 2006 World Press Photo competition, and was the Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art 2007. His work has elicited both highly positive and sharply negative responses from critics, the latter criticizing his portrayal of Africa as a "freak show".

Decide for yourself- his portfolio can be viewed here. I recommend you read the "about these images" atop the page once you've click a series of pictures, so as to understand their context. (Warning- there are at times some grizzly images, though nothing you wouldn't find on a news source with a warning not unlike this one.)