CAP Prize 2023 winner puts personal Mozambican history in the spotlight

Record ID: 1737621

  • Title: CAP Prize 2023 winner puts personal Mozambican history in the spotlight
  • Date: 14th August 2023
  • Summary: MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE (JULY 11, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOZAMBICAN PHOTOGRAPHER AND 2023 CAP PRIZE WINNER, YASSMIN FORTE GOING THROUGH HER PHOTO PORTFOLIO OF COLLAGED PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK FORTE CUTTING A PICTURE OF HER SON AND JUXTAPOSING IT AGAINST A PICTURE OF HERSELF, COMBINING THEM TO SHOW SIMILARITY IN FACIAL FEATURES VARIOUS OF FORTE SHOWING THE COLLAGE OF HERSELF AND HER FATHER THAT SHE USED TO ENTER THE CAP PRIZE COMPETITION (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) MOZAMBICAN PHOTOGRAPHER AND 2023 CAP PRIZE WINNER, YASSMIN FORTE, SAYING: “It’s the recognition [from the CAP award]. It’s the doors that open, and in the world of photography, I think that the eyes will be open for the work that I do. It’s an excellent moment that I have to show my work, and to show the world what I do.” VARIOUS OF FORTE AT HER HOUSE WORKING ON HER COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) MOZAMBICAN PHOTOGRAPHER AND 2023 CAP PRIZE WINNER, YASSMIN FORTE, SAYING: “I hope to show my work all over the world, it’s what I want…it's continuous work, to have a chance to showcase my talent not just here but in the world.” FORTE TALKING ABOUT HOW SHE CREATED A SUPERIMPOSED IMAGE OF HER FATHER AND A BUILDING IN MAPUTO
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2023 09:02
  • Keywords: AFRICA ART CAP PRIZE MOZAMBIQUE PHOTOGRAPHY
  • Location: MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE & JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
  • City: MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE & JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: Mozambique
  • Topics: Africa,Art,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA001882621072023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PART AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING
    Mozambican photographer whose contemporary artwork gained her a Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize, is using the win to highlight the country’s colonial past through her family history.
    While trying to show how she finds inspiration for her photography, Yassmin Forte weaves through the capital, Maputo, recollecting memories about her family by taking pictures of buildings and streets that remind her of how her parents.
    Her father a Portuguese soldier and her mother, a local woman, met during the height of the Portuguese occupation in Mozambique.
    “So this is one of the places that appears in my work. It is where my father grew up and did his military training. They used to be in this square for the military parade, singing," Forte said with nostalgia.
    The 43-year-old fell in love with the camera at a young age and started to document stories about Africa and its history. In her latest work, titled, 'This is a story about my family' which awarded her the international prize, Forte uses collaging to juxtapose the past and the present - starting with her Portuguese father, then layering her face on top of his to show facial resemblance.
    “I tell a story about my father, a Portuguese soldier that comes to Mozambique with his mum and dad, lived here many years and went to the army. That’s why we have a picture of him in the army suit. He lived in town, that’s why we have the buildings on his face," Forte said.
    The aim of her work is to dissect the effects of colonialism and migration on Africans.
    With the international recognition, Forte is hoping to travel her work to bigger galleries and be known for documenting African people and their history.
    “I hope to show my work all over the world," she said.
    (Emidio Jozine, Sisipho Skweyiya)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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