Arlette Bashizi Wants to See More Congolese Women Photographers

Thanks to a fierce determination and incredible passion, Arlette Bashizi has managed to go where few Congolese women have gone before. Ignoring sexist stereotypes and all manner of obstacles, she taught herself the art of photography and worked her way to acceptance and acclaim. Bashizi’s most recent body of work, a series called Reconstruction, highlighting Congolese women, in particular, and African women, in general, and was recently exhibited in London. She worked on the collaborative project, No Limits, with another photographer from Goma, Moses Sawasawa. It documents the lives of disabled people and aims to show the public that their capabilities outweigh what they aren’t able to do. Although the profession of photographer is not given a lot of respect in the Congo, Bashizi, believes there is hope, especially for the field of photojournalism because there are several young photographers who have emerged and evolved in the same, self-started, way.

SOURCE: OKAYAFRICA