Youngsters from Wesbank are involved in a different kind of shooting and had their first exhibition held on Saturday in Langa after attending free photography classes.
Professional documentary photographer Lindeka Qampi, 55, from Khayelitsha started photography in 2006, documenting the daily lives of people in townships in Cape Town.
Since 2012, she has shared her skill of photography in different communities.
At the beginning of February, she started working with 22 children from Wesbank alongside community activist Lindy Jacobs, however only five children between the ages of 11 and 18 completed the training.
Lindeka says: “We held the classes inside Lindy’s garage and taught photography amongst the young ones because it is very important for them to document their archives and history so they can know their identity and share Wesbank with others.
“We want to hear the voices of the young children through documenting their daily lives. I feel there are a lot of spaces in our townships. We also want to encourage the young children who see the career of journalism as an important tool to tell their stories.
“The first exhibition was held on Thursday in Wesbank and on Saturday in Langa because I wanted to take them out of their comfort zone to see the history of South Africa. And Langa is rich in that.
“I feel most of the time we know our communities we stay in but do not know the history.”
Lindeka collaborated with Andrin Fretz, a photographer and filmmaker from Switzerland, community activist Lindy Jacobs and Manyatsamantys Monyamane, a photographer and photography lecturer at CPUT.
Jacobs said that the group had different kinds of shootings including the sunset, nature and beaches to name a few.
Jacobs adds: “The children were always excited to see Lindeka because she would always come and teach the children something new such as a dance move or colouring. She would always come with an artist who would share something new.”
“In Wesbank we have a lot of shooting and crossfires that kill our children, so this was nice of Lindeka to come out and share her skill with our community free of charge. The work of these children is amazing and it is definitely not a skill they will forget easy.”
