Cyclo-Pousse
A Photograph by Aina Zo Raberanto, in Collaboration with Through The Lens Collective.
A street illuminated by the burst of a car’s light. The figures are photographed in such a hurry they seem like blotches, as the flash of brightness in a dream. When you look at the scene a second time you notice how one tricycle is riderless, and its lack of blur appears inconsistent with the mood. Red is everywhere, as unremarkable in the scene as darkness at night. Yet, like a detail in that dream, a repeated fragment of colour is the clue.
— Emmanuel Iduma
“I like to show what we often forget to observe.”
This photograph was taken in December 2021 in Antsirabe (Madagascar) during a residency for the traveling photographic project Galerie à Ciel Ouvert or (Open Sky Gallery) that I created with a Malagasy photojournalist Henitsoa Rafalia. The objective of this project is to post photos on the streets to allow the population to rediscover their city and their daily life. This photo was taken at nightfall in the rain.
We spent hours in a bar taking pictures. I kind of went out to see what I could take in the rain, and suddenly I see this cylco-shoot that stops to drop a lady off. I see this scene that appeals to me—the light of the car, the colors red and blue—and when I click, I find this somewhat blurred rendering that I particularly like. But I think rain also plays an important role in this photo. I like the atmosphere in the rainy season, a kind of nostalgia and melancholy.
This photo particularly touches me, in its composition, the colors, the atmosphere and the way of representing the city of Antsirabe. I like to photograph the streets, the scenes of life… I usually take pictures in black and white but this time I let myself be tempted by color. This photo also gives an idea of movement that I hope to portray in my photos.
For me, photography is a kind of testimony. As a journalist, I like to tell a story, a situation and I think I can transcribe it through photography. Through my photos, I like to show what we often forget to observe. In Madagascar, we are overwhelmed by routine: daily life is sometimes painful and we often forget to take the time to observe, to appreciate. I live in Antananarivo, the capital. For me, it is a city that is at the same time stifling, oppressive but despite all, I find it emits a beauty, or a buried poetry.
So I look for this beauty and poetry on the street corners, on a piece of sidewalk, in the eyes, in the hallways, in the bars… whether it’s day or night. People have the freedom to interpret, to have their own feelings. I find it touching that my photos speak to other people. I like it when people talk about my photos, they reclaim the story, they discover another story, and finally, my photos make sense through a different gaze.
— Aina Zo Raberanto
Post-Card Africa
Tender Photo is collaborating with Through The Lens Collective to present photographs from Post-Card Africa, a project designed to create new and insightful responses to the history of African representation through photography. Images such as Aina Zo Raberanto’s “Cyclo-Pousse,” taken in Antsirabe, Madagascar, evoke a new local archive, by approaching creative agency and shared opportunity for local representation as an important framework for actively engaging the continent’s very complex history and representation. Read more about the project here.
About Aina Zo Raberanto
Aina Zo Raberanto is a cultural journalist based in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and editor-in-chief of a Malagasy cultural magazine. “Through my wanderings, I let myself be guided by what the street offers me: a multitude of possibilities to tell a story, to capture moments of life,” she writes. See more of her work on Instagram, and follow on Facebook.
Last Week — Cole Ndelu
You can go in so many different ways when you’re exploring something as big, complicated and simple as love. I guess I’d say I enjoy the closeness, the metaphor, the colour and the way the work feels. I had always wanted to photograph Sami and Frypan together, and I was surprised by how easily it came together after so many years of planning and delays.
Read More: I’m Just Somebody Who Wants to Love and Be There for You
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This is the 59th edition of this publication. The newsletter can also read on web (best for viewing images), and via the Substack iOS/Android apps. Every Wednesday I feature one photograph and the photographer who took it: you’d read a short caption from me, and a statement from the photographer. And every Saturday I publish a lengthier engagement with photography. My goal is to support early to mid-career African photographers by engaging with their work, and to create a platform in which photographers lead the cataloguing and criticism of their work. If this newsletter was shared with you, consider subscribing, or forward to a friend. Please whitelist the newsletter to ensure you never miss it.