Pass Me Over
A Photograph by Bongeka Ngcobo
A lone figure sleeps in a light-coloured, long-sleeved dress. Her body is folded atop a rock, and she uses her right hand as a pillow. Her left arm makes a nest around her head – the hand holding onto the shoulder of the rock like a hug. There’s an ease washing over her afro, down her closed eyes and through to the bare foot peeking out of her dress. Perhaps a rock isn’t such a strange place to listen or rest.
— Sibongakonke Mama
“Embracing truth and healing.”
My specialty is storytelling that focuses on internal dialogues and identity through self-portraits, intimate portraits of others and explorations of my environment. I was introduced to self-portrait photography during my varsity years, but I never really paid much attention to this genre. I used to admire it from afar up until 2019 – when I decided to turn the lens on myself to express my inner thoughts and feelings in a creative way, using the tool that I know best. This photograph was taken that year at the Newlands Forest in Cape Town.
It represents the exact feelings and emotions I was going through at the time. How would you feel when something you have been speculating for years has been confirmed to be true? What to do with the truth? It is said that the truth will set you free, but in my case it left me with so much hurt. I don’t believe I was ready to hear the truth, but I believe the truth narrator was set free.
I searched for an environment that is dark but still had rays of light coming in, a place where I would be surrounded by nature and appear small between the surroundings. The forest was the perfect place for this project. I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS II USM lens with a tripod.
I was in the process of acceptance, and I used photography to begin my journey of embracing the truth and healing. At the time I was hoping that after some months, or completion of the project, I would be set free. But I came to realise that healing is a forever process. So every day I am choosing freedom, I choose forgiveness and love, which draws me closer to myself.
— Bongeka Ngcobo
About Bongeka Ngcobo
Bongeka Ngcobo is a South African photographer based in Cape Town. Her work has been featured in local and international publications, and she was part of the group exhibition Point Blank: Photography and Activism in 2019. In the same year she was selected as one of the Design Indaba Emerging Creatives and awarded a scholarship by the Orms Cape Town School of Photography. Bongeka holds a B-Tech in Photography, specialising in portraiture and documentary photography solidifying, from the Durban University of Technology. She also holds a diploma in Journalism from Varsity College. More of her work via her Instagram.
LAST WEEK — “A Beautiful Coincidence” by Queila Fernandes
I started photographing her and whatever was around her. Then a man in a red outfit appeared behind her, outside the minivan, laughing with his co-worker. I immediately thought it would be beautiful if he was in the photo too. I took the picture and showed it to her. "I like how I look,” she smiled, “and the boy behind me is my nephew.” I was so surprised by the coincidence and I told her straight away. I chose this photograph because it feels good when such beautiful coincidences happen when you are doing what you love.
This is the 103rd edition of this publication, edited by Sibongakonke Mama, one of our editorial fellows. The newsletter also read on web (best for viewing images), and via the Substack iOS/Android apps.
TENDER PHOTO is a 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. The most recent series is INDEX.
Our goal is to work with African photographers by creating a platform in which they lead the cataloguing and engagement with their work.
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