AFRICAN GOLD

A passion for the image

Text and Photographs Tony Figueira

Mostly we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are. Photography changes that, it makes us really notice, appreciate and respect what and who is in front of us

Main image:  One fine Sunday I headed to the informal settlements of Katutura on my way to document shack dwellers being briefed on the advantages of solar energy as life enhancer. Sheltered from the scorching sun, the neighbours sat under a massive tree surrounded by shacks. Informal meetings are like that. Time is not much of an issue, and on this particular occasion I was only too happy that proceedings took a while. I wandered around for an hour or so, capturing Sunday morning life, when I came upon a bunch of kids playing football in an open area between the shacks. My camera triggered extra enthusiasm, and a great deal of fun.

G hanaian jazz virtuoso George Lee pays tribute to Namibia and its people with a delightful combination of vocals and saxophone in a song from an album entitled African Jazz Men. Lee shares the platform with other African legends such as Moses Molelekwa, Pops Mohamed, Winston Mankunku, Tony Cox, Denis Mpale, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse and Sipho Gumede in a real celebration of Africa and African music.

The pinnacle of this fine compilation is, however, the manner in which the celebrated Lee sings about Namibia and how so much of this song is in tune with my imagery of this magnificent country. It is indeed home sweet home, a desert basking in the sun, the hope for all, the hope for one, of how the “African moon will be mine tonight”, or how this African song “rises from the far light”.

Lee’s guttural voice introduces a raw but hauntingly beautiful Namibia, a land of promise seen by a thousand eyes, a land where I run barefoot through your sand and see the African sun stealing you away from me. A promised land waiting for her destiny to be Namibia.
And to be Namibian is indeed something special. I just need to think of all my friends who ended up settling in Namibia after travelling through Africa, other continents or the world, only to find solace, peace and spirit in the soil, light and weight of Lee’s lyrical Namibia.

And to be Namibian is indeed something special. I just need to think of all my friends who ended up settling in Namibia after travelling through Africa, other continents or the world, only to find solace, peace and spirit in the soil, light and weight of Lee’s lyrical Namibia.

Often identified with a variety of styles, sometimes mixed together into a sort of spicy musical potjie, the multi-talented Lee has the knack of being able to encapsulate the essence of Namibia through this sensual song. His is a tribute to wealth of spirit, to the abundance of hope, to wisdom and truth “in your stories told”. According to Lee, Namibia’s African nerve channels like African gold. She whispers in the wild, is filled with mystery and “I am listening to you”.

The images in this photographic feature are a bit like Lee’s stew of life, music and styles. They were taken through the years of a Namibia that I love, a Namibia that is a treasure to photograph, a Namibia where “I will be the rain for you”.

Both taken on film more than 20 years ago, these images bring back fond memories of bitterly cold mornings near Tsumkwe in the Otjozondjupa Region, where I was documenting a people whose histories are written in sand and rock. Draped in very little protective material, these two women stand out from my wonderful bag of portraits that I have documented throughout the years.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2015/16 issue of Travel News Namibia.