Distant View

Affinities between photographers in the Tender Photo archive

Apr 19, 2024

To notice things or people beyond an immediate sightline.

“A City in Disguise”

From the balcony I framed the image from, on the 27th floor of the apartment, I had the view of the park station, and above it, Mandela Bridge, then the trains stretching on, which is in the picture. I was immediately drawn to the different modes of transport. The taxis, the bus, the private cars and the trains. In the photograph, the trains in the foreground are long distance trains, Shosholoza Meyl, and in the background, in striking yellow are commuter trains, Metrorail. Not far from the trains, off the building in the foreground of the image, is Park Station, the largest railway station in Africa, where short and long distance trains ferry customers.

— Lidudumalingani

“Mutation”

The photograph was taken in Lagos Island in Idumota, which has so many layers of architecture and human configuration, and shows how people negotiate space in the city of Lagos. It’s a city of 20 million people and yet the space is not adequate. If you look behind in the photo you’ll see the commercial parts of Lagos Island, including areas like Broad Street, the Central Bank of Nigeria building, a church, a mosque. In one image, you see religious icons, commercial icons, and people negotiating the space.

— Andrew Esiebo

“Nearer, My God, to Thee”

On one side of the hill, the expanse of the town sprawled before me in a sea of foliage and zinc roofs; on the other side was the university, its buildings miniaturised by distance into little chunks of concrete. Just a couple of meters away from me, was as group praying fervently, engaged in what I immediately identified as a deliverance session, having witnessed and been in several while growing up. I continued with my assignment and took two or three shots of the gathering offhandedly, in a way that wouldn't spook the people or make them uncomfortable. There were around three or four such groups littered on various parts of the hill, but this one was the largest and its members were the most animated.

— Onyekachi Iloh

“Crossing a River”

In a few of the interviews I had with the students about their childhood memories, they mentioned visiting the Maiduguri Park and zoo, so we decided to go there for a morning trip on one of the workshop days. I noticed that there was a small valley, with a very small stream running through. I asked the students if they could walk through it while I made video and photographs.

— Rahima Gambo

“The Ebb Tide”

I spent many nights on the island, staying with some of the residents of the island. I was curious about the island at night, how it presented itself in the dark and during a state of flux—dusk and dawn—like the changing of a tide. I explored the island at its most isolated hours and took this photograph just before dawn. This building is “Alpha 1,” the island's only shop and cafe which is situated at the south, facing the mainland and Cape Town's big city lights.

— Verity FitzGerald

This is the eighth edition of AFFINITIES. Every Friday in March and April, I reread the statements by the 100 photographers featured between February 9, 2022 and January 10, 2024, and find affinities between how they describe their themes or process, or how they visual styles interact. Read the previous editions here.

TENDER PHOTO is a bi-weekly newsletter on African photography. Every Wednesday we feature a photograph and a short caption about it, and include a statement from the photographer. Every Friday, we publish commentaries or photo-essays in response to photographs previously featured on the newsletter. Our goal is to engage with early to mid-career African photographers by creating a platform in which they lead the cataloguing and engagement with their work.

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