Mikael Owunna [Photographer]: Growing up as a queer African person, I was told that it was "un-African" to be gay, and that homosexuality was foreign to our culture. After enduring years of severe alienation from my Nigerian heritage and a series of exorcisms in Nigeria as well, I started Limit(less) to reclaim my African-ness and queerness on my own terms.





Limit(less) is an award-winning documentary photography project on LGBTQ African immigrants in North America and Europe. Between 2013 and 2017, I shot and documented the stories of over 50 individuals for the project in 10 countries toward my goal of debunking the myth that it is “un-African” to be LGBTQ. In the process I found that there are no safe spaces anywhere for LGBTQ Africans - even in the "liberal" West.





The project is the first-of-its-kind to document recent LGBTQ African immigrant and asylum seeker experiences across the West; visually expanding conceptions of African-ness and queerness. It is a collaborative response between me and my community to redefine what it means to be an immigrant, African and queer in North America and Europe at this time. To confront, with our self-love and stories, the oppressive narratives that say we should not exist. We are Limitless.





Full project website: www.limitlessafricans.com