The Lessons

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ on 3 photographs in the Tender Photo archive.

Nneka Iwunna Ezemezue

“How do you preserve a photo that’s all you have left?” None of them answers the widow’s question. Instead, they shove demands into her mouth until she swallows their words as though they’ve belonged to her all along.

Silvia Rosi

They tell the schoolgirl she must improve her posture. Would the girl sit for a moment? If she does, they can teach her how to take elegant strides. Good. If she balances one of the books on her head the way hawkers do, if she allows this weight they’ve offered to meter her steps for about an hour every day, she’ll be walking like a model before she graduates. She rests one hand on the books they’ve placed on her lap and returns their gaze. If you don’t look at the veins of her clenched fist, like them, you’ll mistake her restraint for acquiescence.

Ubani Chidindu

Without being told, the boys know they must not speak. Silence is part of their penance. They have erred, and someone has decided to punish them. A teacher instructed them to stay this way earlier. Was that an hour ago? More? What matters now is how one boy holds the other’s shoulder to keep him from folding in despair. They started out as friends or brothers, but the hours ahead will teach them how to be both.

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This is the final edition of Correspondences, a pop-up series on Tender Photo, published every Saturday from March 4–May 27, 2023. I asked a few writers to find “correspondences” between 3 photographs from the archive, chosen without constraint on style or genre, and to write short commentaries on their choice. The goal is to open up Tender Photo’s editorial and curatorial process to an engaged group of readers, broadening the diversity of responses to the varied work featured so far.

Tender Photo is a bi-weekly newsletter on African photography, published Wednesdays and Saturdays. See the archive for more features on early to mid-career photographers. If this newsletter was shared with you, consider subscribing, or forward to a friend. Please whitelist the newsletter to ensure you never miss it.