Mohamed Amin, photographer and frontline cameraman extraordinaire, captured the pain and passion of Africa like no other. ‘Mo’ trained his unwavering lens on every aspect of African life, never shying from its tragedy, always rejoicing and celebrating its successes. Mo’s international breakthrough came in 1965 when, at 22-years-old, he set out to cover the revolution in Zanzibar. His pictures of a secret Soviet military training camp got him arrested by the authorities and he was tortured for 28 days in the notorious Kilimamigu prison.

Rising at 2 am every morning and with Camerapix offices in 22 countries, Mo witnessed and recorded the alternating currents of his beloved continent and beyond. Always first, his photographs would delight and shock millions of television viewers and newspaper readers. In 1977 French media had secured exclusive rights to document the coronation of the Emperor of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bedel Bokassa. However, Mo went undercover wearing a top hat and tails, and his photographs were published all over the world.

Mo travelled to Korem in northern Ethiopia on 9 October 1984. He and Michael Buerk filmed and photographed the devastating Ethiopian famine. The story aired across the world and opened the eyes of millions. Mo’s photographs were published in every single newspaper globally. The world saw the brutal reality of the famine. In response, political activist and musician Bob Geldof created the charity group Band Aid and organised the Live Aid concerts to raise money for Ethiopia. Harry Belafonte put together USA for Africa to record the song “We Are The World”, and US President George H.W. Bush pledged $1bn to the famine relief and invited Mo to the White House.

In 1991, Mo lost an arm in an ammunition dump explosion in Ethiopia. His sound recordist, John Maathai was killed while 3 other colleagues were injured. With the help of a myoelectric prosthetic arm, Mo was back in the field only three months later to carry on with his work. 

Mo built up strong relationships with world leaders and journalists, which allowed him exclusive access to some of the continent’s greatest stories. He was the only photojournalist allowed into Idi Amin’s Uganda. His Muslim background allowed him to be the first to photograph and film the Hajj in Mecca. But Mo was frustrated by the depressing narrative of Africa that the media transmitted. In 1994, he launched the weekly TV show ‘Africa Journal’, which reported stories on the positive growth of the continent.

Mo was killed in a terrorist attack on 23 November 1996. The Ethiopian Airlines flight 961 was hijacked and crashed into the Indian Ocean killing 125 people including Mo and his colleague, Brian Tetley. Survivors would later report that Mo had tried to talk the hijackers out of their plan. He fought until the end and lost his life in the way he would have liked best – amid the largest scoop of the day.