Cultural storyteller Lindeka Qampi hands photo power to kids

Don’t give a child candy; give them a camera so they can document their life.

This tenet shapes the work of activist and street photographer Lindeka Qampi, whose two-decade career represents a powerful act of storytelling and social change.

Born in the rural village of Bolotwa, Eastern Cape, Qampi overcame a difficult childhood selling clothes in neighbouring townships before picking up a camera for the first time at the age of 36.

Today, she is celebrated for her impact as a cultural storyteller who has transformed her practice of photography into a tool of dignity and self-representation for herself and South African communities.

“Life was not easy, because I grew up selling clothes in different townships from the age of nine. I had the skill of sewing and working with leather, but there was a dream, and nothing was stopping me,” Qampi says.

Now 57 and living in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, Qampi’s body of work is firmly anchored in a commitment to African-led storytelling.

Largely self-taught, Qampi began practicing photography in 2006, inspired by her interactions and engagement with members of Iliso Labantu, a community-based photographic collective in the townships of Cape Town. It was also during her years at the collective that she was introduced to celebrated artist Zanele Muholi.

“Photography is my calling,” says Qampi, who joined Iliso Labantu after hearing someone talking about the collective.

“What influences me are my history and my background. Recalling the first images I had taken, I heard this song on the street and before I knew it, I was documenting traditional healers. Not only did photography give my life meaning, but it opened my eyes to the realities of everyday life and the importance of archiving black story.”

Qampi’s work has been exhibited extensively locally and internationally, with showcases including the Association for Visual Arts, MARKK Museum, Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts and Sakhile&Me. She is also the recipient of the Mbokodo Award for Creative Photography and the Brave Award in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

In 2012, Qampi founded the PhotoXP programme, an initiative dedicated to teaching photography in marginalised and underrepresented communities. Built on the belief that people should have the power to tell their own stories, the programme equips participants with cameras and creative skills to document their lives, cultures and communities.

“The skill of photography is important, and working with different people will make it a journey for everyone to be visible in history. When we share the skill of photography, it’s so they [the community photographers] can capture their stories and share them,” says Qampi.

In collaboration with the Muholi Art Institute and Mase Khaya and West Coast Kids, the programme’s latest project empowered children as young as seven in the West Coast fishing village of Paternoster to use photography to document their lives, families and the town’s relationship with the ocean.

The result is a powerful and deeply personal exhibition titled “Whose Freedom?” − capturing the voices and realities of the small fishing community that is often excluded from mainstream narratives.

“Paternoster is a landscape that carries a rich history of our country, and for a child that lives there to be able to tell stories of their daily life, history and language is enriching,” she says.

“We wanted to hear the kids’ voices. Often, as adults, we don’t include kids because they are always observers, like sponges, absorbing the news happening in our country. Most of their parents are fishers, so there is a rich fishing history in the town. Everyone’s history matters.”

Qampi’s next exhibition will be in the Eastern Cape, with photographs taken by children from various rural villages.

“Similar to us going to Paternoster, we are always going to different parts of our country because this is not a limited journey. It’s a journey for everyone,” she says.