Umoja Photographers

2019

By Standing Voice

August 22^nd, 2019

The Umoja Photographers are a talented collective of Tanzanian creatives using photography to explore their world and spark social change. Based at the Umoja Training Centre on Ukerewe Island and formed by Standing Voice in 2017, the group is a mixture of young people with and without albinism passionate about photography as a route to professional advancement and a weapon to amplify marginalised perspectives.

In just three years, the group have grown from total novices to competent creatives. Their work has made waves internationally, recently featuring in the Guardian.

In Summer 2019, the group reunited for Standing Voice’s third annual Summer Skills Workshop, under the expert guidance of professional photographer Brian Benson, assisted by other international volunteers Jim Fisher and Sarah Bancroft, and local facilitator and translator Yohanna Ladislaus.

Returning to Ukerewe for the third time, Brian was delighted to discover a bank of high-quality images taken by the photographers since the previous year’s workshop. Using cameras donated by our supporters, the group had spent 12 months working as event photographers, documenting weddings, parades and other local festivities, all the while honing their artistry. Welcoming these confident returning faces as well as some new ones, Brian and the team helped the photographers to consolidate and expand their skill sets, and further develop the entrepreneurial possibilities of their craft.

"It is always exciting to see the rapid development in new starters. It is very evident when looking at the work they have produced over the last three or four days: their images invariably go from being shaky, blurred and cropped, to well-composed, sharp and well-exposed, telling a story about the places we visit." — Brian Benson

As in previous years, the group enjoyed a series of field trips across Ukerewe, absorbing and interpreting local scenery through the vehicle of photography. From exploring a coconut plantation and collaborating with the tailoring workshop in a fashion shoot on the beach to document the hats they had created, to roaming a local market and documenting the process of brick-making, the photography group made great use of their environment by capturing the essence of island life.

"It’s wonderful to be able to travel around the villages. I would say acceptance of people with albinism seems to be growing, which is hopefully, in part, a result of the photography workshop. By having people with albinism go out into the communities and demonstrate a skill, they start to earn some respect." — Brian Benson

To develop the entrepreneurial dimension of the workshop, participants were trained in the production of photo ID: how to frame a subject against a background, and follow official guidelines to ensure the legitimacy of photographs used. Learning this skill will enable participants to take ID photos for each other, and potentially for clients: an avenue of income-generation that could be harnessed using the printing facilities at the UTC.

At the end of the workshop, the quality of participants’ work demonstrated how far they have come in such a short space of time. The use of landscape, portrait mode and storytelling was clear in their images, with the photos offering an opportunity to observe the world through these photographers' eyes.

With a sense of pride and accomplishment, the photographers confidently displayed their photos in the main hall of the Umoja Training Centre on the last day of the workshop.

"I have seen a massive amount of progress over the past four days from everybody in this group. The workshop has been absolutely fantastic, and Standing Voice has undoubtedly made a huge impact. I’ve learnt a huge amount about albinism. In fact, I’ve learned a huge amount about everything! Despite being a trainer, all I’ve done over the past couple of days is learn." — Jim Fisher