Zimbabwean Photographer Wins CNN Award 2007

Zimbabwe Tue 31-07-2007

Zimbabwean Photographer Wins CNN Award 2007
By Martin Chemhere

The 2007 Mohamed Amin Photographic Award in the CNN African Journalists Awards held in Cape Town , South Africa on Friday 20 July 2007 was won by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi from Zimbabwe.

The 30 year old Zimbabwean has made local history by scooping the coveted award for the second time in under five years. About wining the award he said: “It was interesting but I was not as excited as I did when I won it for the first time in 2002. This time I was excited by the fact that it is important for my profile and Zimbabwean photography in general.”

He said that the competition was stiff with around 1800 entries from around the African continent sending in their entries which were whittled down to a trickle and then finally one winner. Mukwazhi won the award after entering a series of photographs depicting scenes of Zimbabwe ’s diamond rush in Marange communal lands.

The series are a fascinating glimpse into the current state of affairs in the mineral rich outlying area of the country. They show a rural area under siege from hungry communal folk out to collect what they believe has been “given to them by the ancestors” as the story of the diamonds’ easy find goes.

They also reflect the complete mixture of desperation, fast riches, environmental chaos and even the miner’s hard work. The photographs capture the minutest details available, and convey their messages with clarity. “They are a small part of what I photographed”, he revealed.

Mukwazhi`s photographs carry different and varied moods as dictated by their image action or location. They vary from exquisite photographs arousing deep and immediate emotions to what looks like simple narrations that when the eye is cast upon them at first there seems little impact from the contact yet the second attempt will discern a new understanding with the imagery.

The Marange diamond fields works also inspire a sense of awe at the reality of man-kind’s struggle’s and dreams, and the ambiguity of life’s challenges.

Furthermore, the photographs bear a certain aura, it is uncommon to peruse through them without sensing the personalities of the human subjects he has captured. Their narration of the madness and rush characterizing the discovery of the Marange diamonds, present an inside story that oozes with power and drama.

The images’ quality and clarity communicate to the viewer the opinion that here is an African photographer knocking on the door for international honours. After winning the same competition in 2002 it seems he has stepped up his photographing technique and skill to a level where few are familiar.

This kind of success, a double for a young photographer, elevates him to the highest notch of classical photographers not only in Southern Africa but the African continent and even beyond.

This view should be taken with the consideration that it is judged by CNN an international media institute. To now label Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi as among the best in Africa , would not be a misguided thought, for he has collected the accolade twice in five years.

This kind of success has made followers of photography to view him as among the most prolific photo journalists in Zimbabwe ’s photographic history. In his home country Zimbabwe, Mukwazhi can safely be now counted among legends of the medium - John Mauluka, Bester Kanyama, Calvin Dondo, Peter Fernandes and Ilo the Pirate, to name the elite whose backgrounds cover both commercial and photo journalism.

Winning the international awards also means that Zimbabwean photography is gradually moving from being a nonentity into a profession to be proud of among fellow photographers and other professionals.

This notion should be even more realistic when considering that another Zimbabwean Desmond Kwande walked away with the same coveted prize in 2006 when it was presented in Maputo , Mozambique.

He says the future of the modern journalist lies in being able to be dynamic and tackle news events from various angles for different markets in order to survive the competition for jobs.

As such he revealed that he will soon start doing television documentaries and radio production. “The future photojournalist has to be able to do more than just cover the photographic side of things, just as the future of writers need not depend on merely writing but taking pictures for a number of media houses such as radio, television and the internet. The photo journalist or the journalist must now be multi skilled”, he commented.

He said that in today’s modern world, the photo journalist must be fully equipped when they go out for assignments and be able to cover a lot of angles for their publications. He feels that his experience and success will now go a long way in helping other photographers in Zimbabwe and Africa.

He will also use his fame to influence the direction of events in the Gwanza Month of Photography Exhibition which he has been handed the reigns to curate and lead in the next years. “I hope to utilize my experience to look for sponsorship for Gwanza. As now the corporate world will be able to appreciate my work and achievements and be able to support the annual photographic show each year.

Turning to the way photojournalists are treated in their profession in Zimbabwe he said: “The treatment of the lot at the hands of editors and management in general still leaves a lot to be desired. Photo journalists are still being treated as if they are not journalists.

The best treatment goes to those who write stories yet our work influences the way newspapers are viewed by the readers.

I think that the situation could be improved in a lot of ways but the mentality is still around although there is a gradual shift”.

The situation he said was also caused by the lack of a vibrant media industry, which also meant there was non existent competition and as a result complacence by publishers who subsequently ignore the importance of employing picture editors.

Comparing the Zimbabwean situation with that in South Africa he said: “Picture editors in Zimbabwe are not the norm in many media houses.

In South Africa the system is very established as widely experienced picture editors are plenty.” Mukwazhi is a freelance photo journalist based in Harare . Married and with one child, his career began in 1999 when he worked for the first daily newspaper The Daily News.

He has worked on projects with the World Press Photo Foundation, the International Organization for Migration and contributed all the photos for the 2007 Amnesty International Calendar Zimbabwean campaign.

In 2004 he was runner up in the Commonwealth Photographic Awards and in 2006 he was Gender and Media Southern African Photojournalists 2006 winner.

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