Where and When were They Taken?
All of these photographs date from 1998-2008 when I spent time working as a volunteer in the Mtwara region of Southern Tanzania. I worked for a charity called Trade Aid in a small town called Mikindani, which lies near to the country’s Mozambique border on the Swahili Coast of East Africa. All of these images were taken in or around Mikindani and reflect the sights, scenes, people and way of life there.
Many of the individuals photographed are good friends or were neighbours of mine. In most cases we still see each other when I travel to Tanzania and I always endeavour to hand back as many prints as possible to the people who I have photographed. Many of the children in these pictures gradually became used to living in the vicinity of someone who kept pointing little black boxes and bits of glass at them; over time their abject terror at the sight of a six-foot five mzungu (white man) receded and instead of screaming and running for their lives they started to grin, pose and crouch in martial-arts positions every time they caught a glimpse of my camera.
For more information about the individuals and locations in the pictures, see the section on the people and the place. For more information about my relationship with Mikindani and the time spent there that enabled me to take these photos please see the section about me.
Prices
Most of the images on this website are available for sale, the proceeds going to a nominated charity based in Mikindani that benefits the local community – see the links page for who you would like to donate to. To enquire please contact us for further information on availability and prices.
Equipment
Three different systems were used to capture the images on this site.
- I use a Minolta Dynax 9 predominantly with Fuji Velvia and Provia. Ilford FP4+ was used to capture the images in black and white and on occasion I use Kodak and Rollei infrared films.
- All medium format images were taken with a Mamiya 6 rangefinder which yields large, high-quality negatives and transparencies. Again, the main films used are Velvia and Ilford FP4+.
- My digital setup is currently based around the Nikon D200 with 17-55mm and 105mm macro lenses. RAW files are captured on Sandisk extreme IV memory cards.
Nikon scanners were used to digitise my transparencies with minimal finishing in Adobe Photoshop to remove dust spots and artefacts resulting from the scanning process.
In the field I use polarising and neutral density filters and a Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod which provides a great compromise between stability and minimal weight so that I can take it with me on hot days under the African sun.
Finally thanks to my co-volunteers in Trade Aid and the select group of local kids in Mikindani who often acted as my assistants, running around with camera bags and tripods at dusk trying to find the right spot for all those sunset shots!