Batswana women�s diversity celebrated through camera
Dumisani Ncube | Friday November 11, 2016 15:37
The 20-year-old photographer cum blogger put up a photo shoot project titled 50 Shades of Basadi, which celebrated Botswana’s independence mainly focusing on Batswana women from different racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
The photo shoot, which was launched on different social media platforms such as Facebook, comprises a series of pictures, which shows young women of different races and complexions posing as if they are parading in an army. Initially the collection was supposed to have 50 women, but captured over 50 volunteers that participated on the project.
“I noticed many of my friends and influencers didn’t have photography projects to celebrate the country’s independence especially people, except for the projects that are focused on technology and infrastructure development. I wanted to celebrate racial, ethnic and cultural differences amongst Batswana women, a celebration of the differences in race amongst Batswana women,” Indigo said.
Explaining the 50 shades of Basadi concept he noted that having a mixed race of young women reflects the stability of Botswana for the past 50 years as it has harboured a variety of races and cultures.
“Capturing photos of women that have different skin colour raises awareness to my peers that Botswana is a peaceful place to leave. Botswana has come a long way, as a peacefully racially tolerant and safe country for everyone, to me that’s important,” he said.
The 50 Shades of Basadi managed to capture emotions from a number of people that reacted to the photo shoot with comments on series’ post.
The series of pictures, which are not in any way predetermined, bring out mixed outcome of colour since they are of different races and complexion with the majority of them dressed in body suits.
“This is also a woman empowerment tool. We have gender related issues whereby women face certain challenges in the society, including the way they dress which is sometimes not approved. That is why you see on the photos most of the women are dressed in a certain way because they are supposed to be dressed in a way that allows them to express themselves,” he said.
According to the photographer, the name 50 Shades of Basadi was confused with American blockbuster movie 50 Shades of Grey, which had a lot of sexual intercourse scenes. He said he had a task of thoroughly explaining his 50 Shades of Basadi concept as he was continuously questioned if his content had sexually related material.
Indigo describes himself as a social awareness photographer who focuses on capturing moments that will convey a message to his peers.