Looking Into the Morning

A Photograph by Kalenga Nkonge, in Collaboration with Through The Lens Collective.

It is easy to begin by saying that the girl has turned away from the camera. But this photograph is too subtle for such a simplistic assessment. Best to stay with the fact that in the absence of a direct gaze we see her wistful manner, a slight turn to the side, as though she is perched on her seat. In my cursory glance, I’d thought the photograph had been taken from outside the car. But I look again and notice that the driver might also be the photographer, attentive to the available light and the transitory elegance in her pose.

— Emmanuel Iduma

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“At times I don't even know if what I am trying to show can be captured in an image.”

I took this photo at home in Lusaka as the kids got into the car. This was just after 6 am in the morning. I had decided to start documenting what the morning looked like for me and the kids as I took them to school. The two boys always sat in the backseat but my daughter sat in the front. Here she had just gotten in the car and was looking out the window. I took the shot.

I like the look and feel of that early morning sun outside the car window as my daughter stares into it. 

I try to tell stories through my photography. Stories that mean something to me. At times I don't even know if what I am trying to show can be captured in an image but I try nonetheless. It's an idea, a feeling, an experience, a memory, a moment. Sometimes it's a thing I cannot explain or put into words. 

— Kalenga Nkonge

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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 Kalenga Nkonge’s “Looking into the Morning,” taken in Zambia, 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.

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About Kalenga Nkonge

Kalenga is a self-taught photographer based in Lusaka, Zambia. “I would say I am driven by the need to tell 'our' own stories as a Zambian and African. That is what I try to capture and show,” he says. More of his work can be found on his website, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Last Week — Aina Zo Raberanto

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. 

Read More: Cyclo-Pousse

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Erratum: The feature on Cole Ndelu referred to the photographer, who is a woman, with the male pronouns. Ndelu’s preferred pronoun is she/her, and the web version has been amended.

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Support Tender Photo

This is the 60th 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.