So Vast, So True

A year of conversations on African photography

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“Tender Photo.” This name, as suggested recently to me by an eminent writer, could also mean to tender a photo.

I have tendered 52 photographs in all, not counting close to 100 others that were included from the portfolio of the photographers. The format has remained, mostly, the same: a photo, a caption, and a statement. For the first few weeks I included hyperlinks to photo-related writings, and for a month or so I asked readers to respond to a poll. Neither addition seemed necessary in an ultimate sense; my greater commitment has been to concision.

And since I had aimed to “serve as a middleman in the exchanges between a photograph, its meanings, and ultimately its impact,” I also sought all year to free my writing from the stringencies and regimen I often work with. In the immediate sense, my commitment has been to look at a photograph until it uncovers its own heart. My captions are written in one sitting, a single take, the aim being to practice an immediacy of response. The sentences I write are in service to the photographs, and in the foremost sense, I owe a continuous debt of homage to the photographers who agree to be featured.

It is incorrect to assume that all 52 photographers are early to mid-career artists, as I had proposed at the beginning. Just as it is impossible to say that they represent, in any sense, the diversity of the continent. Yet in corresponding with the photographers—staying true to an ethos of staying open to different styles and genres—this newsletter indicates a panoply of voices on the importance of photography. It is also a digital library of sorts, in which photographers lead the cataloguing and criticism of their work.

This year, I want to move forward with this idea of a “library” of mainstream photography criticism. To do this—and to deepen and expand the scope of the correspondences—I sense I would have to push a little past the current format.

From March 1, this newsletter would reach you bi-weekly, on Wednesday and Saturday, 5:00pm Nigerian time.

The Wednesday editions will continue as a triangulation of photo, caption, and statement.

For Saturday editions, my goal is to produce expansive, eclectic pieces of writing:

• The first few weeks would feature commentaries by readers who have supported the newsletter. I have asked them to find “correspondences” between 3 photographs from the archive, and to write short commentaries on their choice.

• Intermittently, I intend to share (and mostly republish) lengthier narratives and essays on photography I have written in the past.

• And later this year, I would begin to work with older, more established photographers, born or based in Africa, to present ideas on their work.

I have rarely felt as supported in the public-facing component of my writing than in the past year—in the generous comments to newsletter posts, the heartfelt acknowledgements in person, and in the growing recognition of the newsletter by photographers. I have you to thank, dear reader.

More soon.