THE Zimbabwe Photographers’ Association on Friday opened an exhibition which runs under the theme My People — My Culture at Himage Studios in the capital.
MASIMBA NGONDONGA
Despite the absence of expected local guests from the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, the event saw attendance by Indian embassy first secretary RS Malhotra, Namibian ambassador Balbina Daes Pienaar and guest of honour Indonesian ambassador Eddy Poerwana, among other foreign guests.
The exhibition, showcasing photos by Bornwell Choga and Judith Kajuma, has images from last year’s Harare International Carnival and depicts Zimbabwe’s mixed culture. “This exhibition contains images from our bank of photography taken from last year’s Harare International Carnival and some from rural areas such as the remote areas of Binga and Tonga,” said Kajuma.
Asked why they were using photos from last year, Kajuma said due to lack of proper funding the association could not get to all areas as they had planned to visit.
“We were financially incapacitated to the extent that we could not get to all areas we had targeted, hence we resorted to our bank of photography,” she said.
Guest of honour Poerwana said Zimbabwe had naturally talented photographers capable of reaching professional levels if well supported.
“There are great photographers here in Zimbabwe as we often see in newspapers and they can get far if they get the support they need,” he said.
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Speaking on the sidelines of the exhibitions, executive member Choga said people should start taking photography as a profession than a job for “a failure”.
“It’s high time people took photography as a professional job than something done by a failure.
“I was challenged by one foreign professor of photography and communication at the Harare International Festival of Arts (Hifa) and realised that we need to remove the negative mentality we have when we look at photography,” he said.
Choga said as an association they were still appealing for the fund they should get from the government.
“We understand the current economic meltdown, but we are still waiting for the fund that we must get from the government in supporting the photography sector,” said Choga.
“They asked us to come up with a detailed programme of what we intend to do in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation.”
Meanwhile, former Manica Post chief photographer and chairman of the Zimbabwe Association of Photography Bester Ndoro lamented lack of funds as the major setback crippling the association’s progress.
