Hello once more,
After a few eventful days, here’s another update. Things are in full swing and going well, even if at times I’m having to reassess my ideas; we finally had our first more intense excursions into the local culture and both the kids and me started to experience the unavoidable challenges that come with treading on new ground…
The first couple of student assignments were mostly designed for the students to get their feet wet -they were based at and around Chishawasha. The results surprised me pleasantly, both in regards to the student’s work and the very good quality of the local processing. On Friday we had our first excursion, aimed at closing in on subject matter that goes beyond shooting familiar faces and starting to photograph in public. And boy did we have public or what, at the Hilltop open air market along the highway into Lusaka (also dubbed by Mary as ‘the sad market’…). I have to admit I hadn’t personally checked out the market upfront. When we arrived there, we being twelve kids with cameras and two white guys in tow, we quickly realized that it was very hard to have eyes on each other in this maze-like market. We were also almost instantly pestered by a couple of drunk-eyed guys who, after not having much luck with us, instructed our kids to better not to hang around these white-skinned blood-sucking no-good Satanists… Now I for my part am somewhat used to the idea of dropping into a place as an extra-terrestrial, and luckily I don’t understand the colorful details of what people may share amongst themselves about me. In fact, as a ‘Muzungu’ in a sea of black faces I didn’t expect anything less and I’m usually able to create my own comfort zones by quickly befriending the more kosher-looking individuals I can spot.
However, most of our kids - locals that they are, hearing what they heard, felt quite uneasy in their new ‘Satanists by association’ role in this otherwise not unfamiliar place. Even though our newfound label put us in just the right place considering that a mayor item sold here is charcoal… the grayish-black downtrodden market on the cusp to urban Lusaka is a culturally challenging place to photograph by all standards, even for a local kid.
Holding a camera in public, in fact the whole concept of taking photos of anything but friends and family is barely conceivable to urban Zambians, but is not conceivable to poor rural Zambians bringing their goods to town at a slightly post-apocalyptic looking makeshift market scenery. I usually reassure myself (with the strategies mentioned above) that despite any differences on the surface I’m foremost a good person facing fore-mostly good people but that is not as easy when you also try to keep track of more than two of your twelve proteges… Either way, as far as I could tell the kids mostly clutched their cameras and we soon reassembled at the Land Cruiser and moved on to some more relaxing city destinations. Our final destination for the day, tellingly picked by the kids was ‘Arcades’ - a bland but modern shopping mall.
Despite my own insurmountable visual sensibilities (grit and ingenuity stimulate me) I have known for a long while now that poverty and its attributes hold no romantic, nostalgic nor artistic value whatsoever to those who suffer from it. But in the company of my students it was revealing to see how quickly the trappings of new-found (relative) comfort and ownership (we’re talking about not wearing rags but rather a $25 camera) can eliminate street credit in this type of social surrounding and turn someone’s former stomping grounds into an unexpectedly alienating experience. But what’s the point of debating things like envy and social restriction… it is as I said in the classroom; when rejected, don’t complain but figure out how to do it better. A good photographer has to work hard to eventually earn the interest and deserve the trust of his subjects. In my case I may have to work a little harder on trip research before the next class outing. But then again, there are no beaches here in Zambia and downtown Lusaka (our second stop) wouldn’t have nearly felt as relaxing as it did after our visit to ‘the sad market’.
My students’ ages are as follows: Thokodzile Kauma (17), Charles Chikuni (17), Mary Paxina Makunka (15), Peter Lunghu (11), Mwewa Mwamba (13), Bobsi Saubateli (13), Amos Chindalu (13), Nicolas Banda (13), Annette Banda (14), Monica Phiri (13), Charity Nduluvu (12), Faustina Kumuenda (13). Nominally at least, the older students are my teaching assistants but one quickly realizes that age means nothing in a restrictive social or economical environment when it comes to creativity. Also, some of the younger students appear significantly younger, likely due to malnutrition at an earlier time in their childhood. Most Zambian kids are really polite, many to a point where their politeness and deference toward adults massively gets in the way of things. On top of this, Chishawasha’s orphans live out an interesting dilemma. Their past life circumstance naturally lead them to wanting to please at their own expense, but Chishawasha wants them to succeed as individuals. ‘Showing up as a person’ is one area where I really hope this workshop will do my students some good. To come out of their shells at least where a safe environment is offered to them. My students are all great kids with a potential they shouldn’t have to hide.
On the other hand I also need to accept the fact that people simply operate differently here. So this weekend I’m happy to report, we had much more relaxed outings as I took students (in two half-groups) to their childhood homes or that of a remaining relative. We were helped along greatly by the kids’ decision to bring along Rose - one of the Zambian house mothers who has probably a lot of experience by now when it comes to being a culture broker. The assignment was to have a student partner photograph whatever the hosting student directs him toward, something he or she would like to put into an album about themselves. Suffice to say our visits were eye-openers to me. The kids come to Chishawasha from extremely simple if in many other ways extremely complex surroundings, usually via close relatives that could not or would not support them sufficiently after the death of one or both of their birthparents. The individual stories are highly personal, usually sad and go beyond the scope of this update. For the larger part they remain to be explored within the possibilities of this current workshop.
One reoccurring challenge is to to have my students pay visual respect to the surrounding they live in, not just to record the standard ‘rigor mortis poses’ everyone throws themselves into as soon as a camera is near. Assignments I have given that pretty clearly aim at making people not the central theme have faltered due to the fact that the students best intention will quickly be co-opted by the preconceived notions of anyone else present - and of course there is always someone else present who knows exactly how to take a photo. There are many different sources to this challenge. One being that the only experience many Zambians have with photography is that of taking a passport photo or a singular paid-for family photo. Another being a high-flying ethnographical and linguistic theory that the perceived world of the Bantu people is focused on and organized around a spiritual concept of “The People” first, followed by the individual followed by the animal kingdom followed by all else; this hierarchy may of course lead to the exclusion of the inanimate world when it comes to photography. A much more down-to-earth explanation came to me via Lazarus, one of the Zambian workers at Chishawasha who suggested that most likely ‘The people’ are simply ashamed to show the apparent absence of material possessions… Duh! Thank you Lazarus. I guess I will have to come up with an inspiring talk and examples on the inherent value of things we use daily in our life, no matter if they cost money, are new or half-broken. Then I’ll give an assignment that strictly forbids to show ANY people and see what happens…
Today we’re getting back the results of several assignments and in early preparation of our final exhibition much of this week will be about editing, sequencing and presentation. We’ll have more shooting assignments and (aside from the mentioned NO PEOPLE assignment) I think I can start giving the students a little more space for interpretation. I’ll let you know how that’ll go. And just to mention it right here - Thanks a lot Mary, Bob, Philip, House Moms, teachers for being so supportive of this workshop, wether it concerns juggling your schedules, voicing concerns, giving feedback, driving us around, feeding me well… you rock!
Greetings,
Klaus