Muthablogga

Lindeka Qampi a fantastically phenomenal lady you have probably never heard of ; wins my first,‘Muse of the Month’ Award, Mutha’s  dedication to the most inspiring ladies, making it in the Mutha City.

It’s a boiling hot day in Cape Town and I’m running late, as usual. The parking guard chases after me and finding change is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I have arranged to meet Lindeka at Long Street Cafe in Town. I arrive and she’s sitting in a corner looking fabulous, waiting patiently for my arrival. I offer her a drink and she asks for coffee. I offer the suggestion of an iced coffee instead. She has never had one before and takes me up on the offer without hesitation. Her enthusiasm offers a glimpse at her curiosity and interest in the world.

With our drinks determined, I delve straight into getting to know the real Lindeka Qampi. Who she is, where she has been and where she is going and how she got to where she is. She’s a true muse, an inspiration to her community, to all women, everywhere. She is living proof that neither circumstances nor age can stop a lady determined to better herself.

Heralding originally from the Bolotwa, a tiny town in the Eastern Cape, Lindeka has been living in Cape Town since 1984. She is now 42 years old and supporting her 4 children aged from 21 to 2 years old through her career as a documentary photographer. At the age of 9, her entrepreneurial spirit started to show itself. She started off selling  sweets at school and eventually moved onto selling clothing to assist in supporting her family. She completed matric and a year after her mom had moved down to the Muthacity in 1983, she followed. Living in Khayelitsha, a squatter camp on the outskirts of Cape Town, her family got by selling clothes and skaap kop ( Sheep head, which is brought from the farmers and sold for food in the camps) and Lindeka was never really content. She felt there was something missing and she had no idea what it was.She was soon to find out. In 2004, with business being difficult, Lindeka took to gambling in a state of despair. A few months later in early 2005 her mother, worried about her gambling habits, asked her to sign up for a leather making course at their local community centre. Lindeka followed through on her mom’s advice (aren’t mutha’s always right?) and went for the course. It must have been fate as it was on this course that she overheard a conversation between some of the other participants which set in motion a sequence of events that can only be explained as divine intervention,  a calling, or destiny, however you want to put it, you get the picture, I’m sure.

The man she had over-heard talking was Mandla Mnyakama. He had enthusiastically been relaying his story of a new project in the area run by an NGO, Iliso Labantu, meaning the eye of the people. I wrote a story on their latest photo exhibit which you can read about by clicking here. The organisation provides photography training, cameras and opportunities to people living in the squatter camps. Although she wasn’t privy to the conversation, she had listened with interest and later found herself  wondering to the next campsite, just to track down Mandla and ask him for more information. By pure luck she found him and the next week enthusiastically attended her first meeting. By the third week though, she was bored. She didn’t have a camera and what was the point of a programme where you  simply looked at other people’s photography? Again, fate took control of the situation and it was at this third meeting that Serena Patel, one of the ladies running the programme,  had noticed she had been coming every week, approached her and asked, ‘Where is your camera?’. Lindeka explained she did not have one yet. Hearing this, Serena handed over a little Canon powershot (they rely on donated camera’s) and told her to go out and take photo’s. Having no idea what to take photos of, nor how to take a photo or handle a camera, the next week Lindeka returned with a memory card full of fuzzy photo’s of things like flowers. A bit more training from her peers, Serena and Alistair Burger ( Director of Iliso Labantu) along with directions to go exploring, to capture her world and the people in it, Lindeka tried again.

Spending the next few days taking photo’s of her children and family home, it was that Saturday evening that Lindeka’s love for photography was born. Wondering around in Site B where she grew up, it was at around 6pm in the evening that she asked a Sangoma if she could take some photo’s.  The Sangoma’s obliged her request and to this day, this sequence of photo’s remains among her favorite. Having grown up in a Christian home she had found the magic in photography.  It opened doorway‘s to other world’s and cultures. Since this realisation, Lindeka’s passion has continued opening doors for her where ever she goes. On seeing the photo’s the next week Alistair declared to the class ‘Now this is the sort of photography we are looking for’. It was an encouragement and kindness that Lindeka has never forgotten.

Five years down the line and today Lindeka earn’s her living and supports her family through her photography. She is taking a photo journalism course. She has been to Germany for a group exhibition with Iliso Labantu. She has a solo exhibition in Austria and New York in January next year and you can find her work at The Photographers Gallery ZA as well as on post cards at our National Galleries and the Foto Project Space gallery in Woodstock.

This journey hasn’t been without difficulty though. She is still living in Khayelitsha.  She is still married but her husband and herself are separated. He couldn’t handle her being out by herself to take photo’s all the time. Not even this loss could take her away from her now first love. It’s still a struggle to get by with her only support for herself and her 4 kids being her photography, but she is managing. The fact that she is a woman, has also made it a bit more difficult for her than her male counterparts, especially when she first started taking photo’s.  Now, she says the playing field has evened out as the community have gotten to know her and become comfortable with her.

At this point we take a break and sip our now melting iced coffee, which Lindeka loves.  For a moment my mind drifts. I mull over everything I have just heard. I’m honoured to be spending time with my Muse of the Month. Her journey and strength  bring me to tears. She doesn’t recognise how amazing and talented she is. It reminds me of my father in law’s favourite saying, a beautiful women is only beautiful until she knows is, and Lindeka is  like that. Not only beautiful externally but internally. Striking in her experience and resilience. Her seeming ignorance of these facts makes her even more so. Having heard her story, I’m now interested in her work, equipment and what motivates her.

She tells me she loves working with a 250 -300 mm lens and is using the Nikon D70 currently but dreams of owning a Canon D60 ( I tell her it’s a dream we share and we laugh together).  She goes on to tell me how she is inspired by real stories, real people, their backgrounds and creating  powerful social images. Sometimes she intends a picture to happen and sets it up, designs the composition, other times, and these are her favourites, she just happens to be at the right place, at the right time.  Her photo’s often reflect her mood. If she is feeling a certain way, she is always surprised by how accurately her work reflects this. She depends on natural light instead of Photoshop or After effects in a way that only a photographer with limited access to these things can. Her laptop also stopped working recently so her access to software has become even more limited. I love the sometimes eerie, almost surreal element in her work. Lindeka is an artist, a true self-taught professional, something not many photographers can claim.

Coming to the end of our conversation I ask her if she has any words of wisdom for other aspiring photographers. Work hard, she says, it’s not easy. Take care of your camera, and yourself. Be prepared to take chances. Challenge yourself. Play with the angles. Take your camera everywhere. Get up and learn new skills. Depend on yourself. Use your talents and your blessings. Wise words from a lady that has been through more struggle than most people will go through in a lifetime.

If you would like to contact Lindeka, purchase any of her photography, hire her, donate cash or equipment to her or just get in touch, email her on lindekaqampi@gmail.com or call her on 0835626801. To find our more about  Iliso Labantu visit their website here: www.ilisolabantu.org