My narrative of hope and creativity forAfrica’s youth

Photography Feature: Kyle Weeks

“My intention is to take beautiful, positive pictures of people in Africa and to just let that guide me along wherever I travel for the work that I do. I want to use the medium of photography to shed light on the youth culture in Africa. It is through engagement with my peers that I’m able to tell that story, and I think one is able to install agency with the people that you photograph by not overpowering them with your idea of what you’re trying to achieve – which is to take pictures with a sense of openness and awareness of people’s histories.

Now more than ever there is a need for positive depictions of Africa and I like to believe I’m contributing towards that. Because that is the Africa that I know and that I like to see. And while I’m not interested in creating images purely for the sake of being celebratory, I like to use this framework to guide me along and help me engage with people along the journey.

Growing up in Windhoek, Namibia, the headlines showed a perpetual cycle of bleak outlooks on Africa, hardly ever with good news. As a photographer I challenge that narrative by focusing my lens on the creativity of the continent’s youth.”

For Kyle’s 2015 series “Palm Wine Collectors”, which captures Makalani palm harvesters in the Kunene Region in northern Namibia tapping palm trees to make moonshine, he received the Magnum Photography Awards in 2016, followed by a solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Namibia.

Website: www.kyleweeks.co

Instagram: @_kyleweeks_