I CARRY HER PHOTO WITH ME

Lindokuhle Sobekwa 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: ‘One day I saw this beautiful light coming in through the window shining on her face. I lifted up the camera to catch the moment and she shot me an evil look and said: “Stop! If you take that picture I’m going to kill you!” So I lowered my camera. I still wish I had taken the shot.’ Ziyanda died soon after.

Employing a scrapbook aesthetic with handwritten notes, I carry Her photo with Me is 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.

Includes a long-form essay by writer and scholar Neelika Jayawardane.