Bodies of Water
Light falls on the boys yet barely on the water. This is not their first sideways jump. We know this by the droplets of water on the back of one boy, and then what appears to be gusto in the widened mouth of his fellow. The shimmer of the lake recalls a black hole. A slender arm reaches past the frame, the other end of which is a hand balled into a fist. The boy is held by the wrist, a grasp that is firm and loose in equal measure, like a baton being passed.
Chris de Beer-Procter: “I see photography as the act of archiving the human experience.”
The photograph was taken in Lake Malawi, Chembe.
This photo happened in the heat of the moment as a group of children were playing on the docks of Lake Malawi. I was there with my family, enjoying the lake much like them. They hung and leapt and pulled at the water with the sort of crackling glee children have. I had with me my first ever DSLR, which I'd had permanently converted to near infrared—I hoped that I could give my old camera new life and in turn that it would give me a new way to bring play and experimentation into my photographic practice again. And so it tickles me that the main expression of this image is play and sort of a leap of trust.
The image stirs very warm memories for me, not only of the space I was in while I took it, but because of the moment between these two boys which feels so intimate and exciting to me. There's a sort of pure joy, trust and thrill in the split-second capture. I think it's at once familiar for the viewer and completely unique to these boys.
I see photography in part as the act of archiving the human experience. I think it's important that we don't forget to document moments of joy, alongside some of the more difficult aspects of being human.
Photography can bring the human element to the stories we tell in a way that is both accessible and yet so powerful.
Two other photographs by Chris de Beer-Procter
Last Week — Abifola Olorunlana
I was heading towards Yaba Bus-stop from Oju Elegba on foot when I realized a sudden change in the atmosphere of the crowd ahead. People were standing a few meters away from the railway on both sides of the track while traders were speedily moving their goods off the railway line. I still couldn't figure out what was going on until I was almost in front of the crowd. Then I felt the vibration of an oncoming train from a distance. I quickly grabbed my camera from my bag, and took a shot of the scene. By then the train was already moving past and I almost missed the shot.
Read more: Train Crossing
Support Chris de Beer-Procter
Chris de Beer-Procter (she/her) is a photographer and photojournalist based in Cape Town, South Africa. She specialises in documentary and portraiture, working for a range of clients including NGOs, corporates and editorial publications. Behind the lens her interests are wide ranging, but she is often compelled to tell stories around social justice, particularly including LGBTQ rights, gender, women’s rights and disability rights. She is a member of NATIVE, an international collective of photojournalists from underrepresented regions, The African Photojournalism Database and WomenPhotograph. Follow her on Instagram, visit her website, and read an interview with her on Wander Cape Town.
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This is the 31st edition of this publication. Every week I feature one photograph and the photographer who took it. You’ll read a short caption from me, and a statement from the photographer. My goal is to set up conversations with the work of early to mid-career African photographers.
I am of course reminded of the poem Water by Koleka Putuma. Afraid of water, I am reminded that you have to have lived a different kind of life to jump into it with glee. I also wonder about the choice of color in the making of these photographs, does the photographer think of water as a black hole?