Words – an exhibition by FNCC’s photography students

Text and photograph Marita van Rooyen

“Words form part of our everyday lives – spoken words, written words, even sign-language words. We use them to express our feelings, thoughts and our individuality.”

Djunior Svane, photography lecturer at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) and part-time lecturer at the College of the Arts, explains how photography is just another way to depict those words that are part of our lives. “Communication is a very important aspect of our daily lives and exhibiting photographs is a way to communicate without words. People love to talk, but sometimes they talk too much nonsense. A photograph automatically eliminates the unnecessary words.”

The exhibition Words, which opened on 5 December, has been on show to express the individual personalities of 12 aspiring photographers. Participants exhibit photographic views and techniques discovered during the 2011 workshops, in and outside the darkroom, in black-and-white and in colour, and even underwater, through the eyes and lenses of each photographer. Kerstin Klein, one of the students, focused on underwater photography. She explains that the challenge of taking photographs in such an unpredictable space is what drives her to take more. Her underwater self-portrait, complete with yellow goggles, is one that stands out.

Says Djunior, “I can teach my students all the technical know-how, but if they don’t have a passion for capturing special moments, you as the viewer won’t be able to sense the essence of life the image holds.”

The exhibition is on show until 26 January at the FNCC’s Blue Frog Restaurant, Robert Mugabe Avenue, Windhoek.

This article appeared in the January’12 Edition of FLAMINGO Magazine