Photography students fill in the dots in the “Water is…” competition

A&HPhotography students fill in the dots to the “Water is…” competition ANDILE DUBE The Durban University of Technology’s Photography Programme hosted a prizegiving ceremony for the ‘WATER is…’ competition on Friday, 26 August 2022. For the project, also a competition, students were asked to examine ideas and questions related to ‘crisis, ceremony and catastrophe’ of water, using photographs as visuals that filled in the dots of the title. Photography lecturer, Liza du Plessis explains that in recent months KwaZulu-Natal has experienced the impact of global warming with the 2022 floods, which has generated a time of crisis with livelihoods and infrastructures facing intense difficulty or danger.

An important statement created by staff, in a brief to students, outlined the necessity of a joint project of this nature. It stated: “We as the Photography programme need to respond meaningfully and responsibly to this collective crisis, to show vision and foresight, by bringing in conversations about this situation. We all have personal stories to tell. The power in storytelling is that everyone’s story is important and needs to be heard. Our programme has many visual storytellers with different viewpoints. Photographers have the tools and practice of gathering visual stories, creating archives, which can contribute to an unfolding greater story, as it emerges as a historic marker on our 21st Century time-line”.

HONOURS AWARDS &

Winner of the Water is…. Competition, Phumelela Ndlovu (centre) with Photography lecturers.

A&H Third-year Photography student, Phumelela Ndlovu took home first prize for his personal project which tells the story of his childhood friend who drowned while swimming in the river when they were kids. “I just wanted to honour my long-lost friend, the competition gave me the opportunity to express myself and show a bit of creativity in it. As much as I was happy when I heard the brief of the competition, I sat with myself and had self-conversation and the only thing that came to my mind was my old friend and I went back home and began shooting the whole story on how it all happened,” said Ndlovu. Ndlovu won a DSLR camera sponsored by Canon. Other students who made the top five are all second-year students. Ayanda Ngcobo who came in second place; Third place went to Sibonelo Dlamini, Jerry Dambuza came in at number four and Manelisi Nene took the fifth spot. The top 10 winners and Special Mention candidate, received prizes sponsored by Camertek, FujiFilm, Photo Freedom and Nikon. The Faculty of Arts and Design’s Executive Dean, Professor Runette Kruger, congratulated the students saying, “Your works were deemed among the top of your programme, and the competition was tough. Your sponsored prizes are a sign of trust in your ability to shine, both as students and beyond, when you graduate, and we hope that they will serve you very well on your journey to becoming professional photographers and artists. Along with the beautiful outcomes and generous awards, I HONOURS AWARDS hope you take this message with you, as well: that each and every success started with one important step: that of showing up. With your talent, cameras and commitment, please continue to show up for every opportunity that presents itself, and the rest will follow. Well done!!” In addition to the competition, the programme intends to curate exhibitions, with various themes, from the submissions of photographs by all students. One such exhibition called “Stone and Water”, was exhibited online for Digi-Fest 2023. This collection of photographs examined the relationship and effects that stone and water have on each other, when these forces meet. Stone and water are portrayed as a medium, metaphor or artifact.