I Carry Her Photo With Me

More about the book

A scrapbook story of mourning and disappearance in South Africa South African photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa (born 1995) began this project after finding a family portrait with his sister Ziyanda's face cut out. He describes her as a secretive, rebellious and rough presence and recalls the dark day when she chased him and he was hit by a car: she disappeared hours later and returned only a decade later, ill. By this time, Sobekwa had become a photographer and realized the family had no picture of her. However, Ziyanda died before he could photograph her. Employing a scrapbook aesthetic with handwritten notes, I Carry Her Photo with Meis a means for Sobekwa to engage both with the memory of his sister and the wider implications of such disappearances--a troubling part of South Africa's history. The book complements his wider work on fragmentation, poverty and the long-reaching ramifications of apartheid and colonialism across all levels of South African society.