Africa Is a Country

The silence between portraits

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

The silence between portraits

By
Tom Devriendt

Number 17 in our 'Found Objects': The short documentary, 'Mr. Mkhize,' by photographers Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin.

Mr Mkhize.

The short documentary, ‘Mr. Mkhize,’ is a three-month journey taken by photographers Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin in 2003 and commissioned by the South African government. Here’s the backstory: “… Mr. Mkhize has been photographed twice before in his life. The first was for his Pass Book, which allowed the apartheid government to control his movements. The second was for his Identity Book, which allowed him to vote in the first democratic elections in 1994. Ten years later, we took his picture for no official reason.”

What makes it remarkable is not just the silence in between the portraits, usually reserved for a photography exhibition’s catalogue, but also the fact that some parts in the series (some of them very intimate) seem to carry the subjects that were later picked up by other (South African) photographers (such as in Pieter Hugo’s The Bereaved, Jodi Bieber’s Real Beauty, or Mikhael Subotzky’s Beaufort West and Ponte City).

Watch.

Further Reading

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The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

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Behind the fanfare of the Africa Climate Summit, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline shows how neocolonial extraction still drives Africa’s energy future.

The sound of revolt

On his third album, Afro-Portuguese artist Scúru Fitchádu fuses ancestral wisdom with urban revolt, turning memory and militancy into a soundtrack for resistance.

O som da revolta

No seu terceiro álbum, o artista afro-português Scúru Fitchádu funde a sabedoria ancestral com a revolta urbana, transformando memória e militância em uma trilha sonora para a resistência.

Biya forever

As Cameroon nears its presidential elections, a disintegrated opposition paves the way for the world’s oldest leader to claim a fresh mandate.

From Cornell to conscience

Hounded out of the United States for his pro-Palestine activism, Momodou Taal insists that the struggle is global, drawing strength from Malcolm X, faith, and solidarity across borders.

After the uprising

Following two years of mass protest, Kenya stands at a crossroads. A new generation of organizers is confronting an old question: how do you turn revolt into lasting change? Sungu Oyoo joins the AIAC podcast to discuss the vision of Kenya’s radical left.