African Portrait Photographers - Term Paper Example

Compare and Contrast the Work of any Two African Portrait Photographers Compare and Contrast the Work of any Two African Portrait Photographers A photograph is a representation of reality captured through a camera and is worth a thousand words as is often said, the reason for this is that it has power of conveying new meanings to a given situation. Photography is a hobby to many people but is also a professional practice as it offers avenues to upcoming photographers. There is a need for the photographer to have visual expertise for him/her to capture the required moment in an excellent way and that the most expensive equipment is not a requirement for the best photography. There are different styles of photography available to photographers making it possible for them to choose one kind and develop their skills and talents in photography (Peffer & Cameron, 2013). The aim of this study is to compare and contrast the works of two African Portrait Photographers, Seydou Keita, and Zwelethu Mthethwa in terms of their styles. Seydou Keita is a Malian photographer who was born in Bamako, Mali in 1920 and passed on in France in 20011. He began photography in 1935 after his uncle bought him a Kodak Brownie Flash allowing him to master shooting and printing but later purchased a large format camera. This allowed him to produce high quality contact prints without the need of enlarging them using an enlarger. As most professional photographers do, he furnished his studio using props ranging from Vespas, backdrops and costumes, and allowed him to receive international recognition. Owing to his invention and modernization, he emphasized on the vital components of portrait photography of light, subject, and framing. Zwelethu Mthethwa is a South African photographer living in Cape Town and is one of the most known African artists in the western circuits. He has been very successful in visualizing the state of the people of South Africa through time to whom he refers as “others” as he touches on themes of migrant workers and minority groups in South Africa. This is evidenced by the award of the Grand Prix international d’Art Plastiques de Nice, in 1983 and the inclusion of his work in Venice Biennale in 20052. Both photographers have a great emphasis on the quality of the photographs they present, as they are involved in the preparation of their subjects to give the best outcome giving the other similarity between the Keita and Mthethwa. Seydou Keita and Zwelethu Mthethwa have a number of similarities in their style of photography including their quest to shoot the most beautiful pictures. This is in an aim to ensure they grab the attention of the viewers and make people look at their photos. They both employ this strategy as a means of getting people interested; take time in evaluating the composition of the photographs through spending extra time, and probing on the photographs for better understanding of the work of Keita and Mthethwa. The second similarity in the photographing styles of Keita and Mthethwa is that they both present the state of the society through photography (Dhlomo, 1999). The two photographers incorporate dibi in their photographing as a measure of ensuring the photographs display the confidence, individuality, and power of the people in the photographs. Decorations and accentuated backgrounds, backdrops, and props used by the two photographers ensure dibi is incorporated in their photographs. Another similarity in the photography of Keita and Mthethwa is that both presented lifestyle portrait as they both emphasize on the living styles of the individuals depicted. The two artists aim at evoking emotions of the viewers by presenting the exact conditions at which the people live in through taking photographs of the people in their living rooms and the environment in which they live. The other similarity in the styles of the photographers is that they take the photographs at the choice location of the subjects mostly in their houses. Keita and Mthethwa in their photographs capture the situation of their homes showing the interiors of their living rooms. This is in an effort to capture the reality in the ground in the lives of the subjects and present it to the world in a positive manner capturing all the aspects of portrait photography. Keita provided his clients with hats, Western-tailored suits, fountain pens, watches, alarm clocks, telephones, vehicles, and other objects ensuring their comfort and happiness in taking the photographs. Cameron and Peffer put this well by saying, “when highly decorative backdrops are juxtaposed against black and white checkered flows, patterned blankets and elaborately printed attires of clients”3. This shows the societal condition of the where the people were not able to access theses items or own them showing the poverty levels and underdevelopment in his time. Despite his emphasis on the use of color in his photographs, there are instances where Mr. Mthethwa has produced his photographs in black and white, including “Black Men and Masculinity” giving another similarity in the photography style of Keita and Mr. Mthethwa. There is a consistent and straight forward documentation in the photographs of the two photographers ensuring a high regard to the individual. They both ensure the dignity of the subjects is apparent in the presentation of the photos and underscore the self-respect of the people represented. The contest of the photography for Keita is the state of Mali after and during the French colonization while Mwethwa’s situation spans from the apartheid until the present where the people live in poverty but he ensures their dignity and respect is maintained. Keita and Mthethwa, however, differ in a number of ways in terms of their style in photography including that Mthethwa emphasizes on the use of color in his images while Keita uses black and white in his images are one of the main differences between the photographing styles of the two artists4. Mthethwa prefers to photograph his focus in color compared to black and white, as he believes it allows him to present a dynamic environment and brings out the context of the portrayed. The main reason for the choice of color is that he wants to document the history of the people in the society categorized as ‘others’ who are marginalized members of the community. Through color, he is able to bring out the challenges facing these groups as well as the situation of their lives when the photograph was taken and that shooting in black and white is not doing any favor to poor people. It also aids in challenging the members of the community to change the perception of poorer members of the society and show how the poor try to make a home and create dignity showing a different perspective. Keita had a number of reasons for the preference of black and white in his photographs including the need for shipping negatives to France for processing. His second reason was that he did not like color images, as he said black and white looked the natural manner to photograph his people, and the third reason was that he could produce contact prints from the negatives without the use of an expensive enlarger. The other way Mthethwa and Keita differ in their photographic style is in the use of lighting. Keita used modest lighting in the presentation of his images and rarely visible patterns in the costumes used in his photographs (Revue Noire, 1998). The historical reason for this choice of style is due to his preference for black and white photographs while ensuring the images are of superior quality and taking into consideration the absence of technology at his time in Mali. This is in contrast with the emphasis by Mthethwa on not using lights and using colorful visible patterns in the subjects clothing. The reason is availability of technology and his need to problems of apartheid, the tribulations of the poor in South Africa, and the need to show positivism of the people outside South Africa to counter negativism that has always been shown. The other differences is that the main style used by Keita was that of traditional portrait as the subjects were the main aim of taking the picture and the visual representation of the subject is emphasized (Bigham E, 1999). The societal context behind the preference for traditional portrait by Keita is that the main reason for his photography was to meet the need on photographs of the people. The photographs were mainly meant for the people to capture their lives on camera and as a source of income and passion for Keita explaining the emphasis on traditional portrait style. This is in contrast with Mthethwa whose photographs encompass both traditional portrait and environmental portrait styles. The main reason for the choice of style is the need to capture the individuality of the subjects as well as representing the actual environment where the people in the photographs. This helps Mthethwa to meet his aim of showing positivism in South Africa through portraying the people in a positive manner (Diawara, 2000). Keita’s style aims at making people look the best in the photographs they are in while Mthethwa emphasizes on showing the person in their natural environment. The aim of making people look their best by Keita was due to the professionalism he undertook in providing the clients the best photo5. Mthethwa’s aim is to present the circumstances of the poor in South Africa to the rest of the world; hence, emphasis is on the context with which the people are photographed, and their day to day lives. This forms the other main difference between the writing styles of Seydou Keita and Mthethwa Zwelethu. In conclusion, Seydou Keita and Zwelethu Mthethwa have achieved great success in photography despite them having some differences and similarities in the photographing style they used in capturing the reality and state of the society. Some of the similarities in photographing styles of the two photographers include shooting beautiful pictures, presenting social situation of the people, provision of props and backdrops, and regard to the subject. Some of the differences in the photographing styles as expounded in the paper are use of color, use of lighting, visibility of patterns, emphasis on environmental images by Mthethwa while Keita emphasized on traditional portrait. The main reason for the differences is the societal differences in their times as different historical times but both photographers aim at maintaining the dignity, respect, individuality, and confidence of the people presented in the photographs. References Dhlomo B, 1999: Zwelethu Mthethwa talks about his photograph, in F Herreman [ed], Liberated Voices: contemporary art from South Africa, Museum for African Art, NewYork, pp 64- 79. Peffer, J., & Cameron, E. L. (2013). Portraiture & photography in Africa. Indian University Press: Bloomington. Revue Noire, 1998 [English ed 1999]: Anthology of African and Indian Ocean Photograph, esp Beginnings, pp 34-75, Portrait photographers, pp 78-168. Diawara M, 2000: Talk of the town: Seydou Keita, in O Oguibe O Enwezor [eds] Reading the Contemporary: African art from theory to the marketplace, pp 236-242. Bigham E, 1999: Issues of authorship in the portrait photographs of Seydou Keita, African Arts, XXXII, 1, pp 56-67, 94-95. Read More