People are often surprised that photographer Gareth Bentley is a Zambian citizen. The fact is, not only is he a citizen, he’s actually fifth-generation Zambian—his family has lived in that part of Africa for more than 100 years (his ancestors were missionary doctors that emigrated to Africa in the late 1800s). Gareth was raised on a remote cattle ranch about eight hours from the closest town, but now lives outside a city and has been shooting professionally for about ten years. Zambia has always been home to Gareth, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Recently, Gareth and his friend/writer, Johan Rahm, launched “The Extraordinary Project,” an exhibition and book of portraits and stories that highlight the people that make Zambia unique.
Although Gareth had been contemplating the idea of a series of portraits of famous Zambians for years, the Extraordinary Project really came to life following an inspiring shoot last year. While on assignment for a nonprofit, he met and photographed Magadalena (pictured above), an elderly widow who cares for her four grandchildren after both of their parents died from HIV/AIDS.
I was inspired by her courage and strength, and I loved the photograph we shot. I showed it to my colleague and writer friend Johan Rahm. Right then and there we decided to create a project that would celebrate extraordinary people in all walks of life, rather than just famous people.
The project shares stories from many people who are completely unknown to most Zambians. Gareth and Johan want the book to be a source of pride for all Zambians—to celebrate the people that make the country unique, and highlight all the good that comes out of Africa during a time when it seems like most stories focus on the bad.
From an outside perspective, the portrayal of Africa is seriously skewed. Most of the news that reaches audiences on other continents has to do with war and famine. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Zambia and her people. It is time that Africa and Zambia are portrayed in a fashion that reflects the actual truth. We hope that this book will, in some small way contribute to that cause.
Gareth’s biggest challenges with the project revolved around the logistics of fitting about 40 on-location shoots into their 8 week timeline while juggling his shoots for commercial work to keep his income flowing, since this project was initially self-funded. Luckily, Gareth’s partner on the project, Johan, was able to handle a lot of the phone calls and business responsibilities, so they were able to overcome the packed time frame.
Another challenge? Persuading their subjects that their portrait concepts weren’t “entirely insane.”
Probably the best example of this is the photograph of the founding President of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda (the b&w image under the street lights [above]), easily the most widely recognised face in the country by far. Dr. Kaunda is 92 years old this year and he is still very busy with charitable and official work, so finding a suitable time to do the shoot was difficult enough, but then we had to persuade his team that having him stand under a streetlight, on his own, on a public road in the dark was a great idea! We were delighted when they eventually agreed and he really enjoyed the shoot. Dr. Kaunda is famous for the white handkerchief he always carries with him. We wanted to shoot this image so that the viewer had to step closer to try and work out who the subject was and then see the backlit handkerchief in his hand and the penny would drop. Because we would only have a matter of minutes to shoot the image, we carefully taped everything out the night before. We were very happy with the somewhat grainy result which is, I think, a fairly unique photograph of an African president.
So far, Gareth says that the reaction to the book and the images has been fantastic. The launch went well, and they have already sold out of their first print run (in just two weeks!). They are working on arranging a second print run, and they plan to hopefully shoot more stories. In the end, the project was a hugely rewarding experience for Gareth:
I learned so much about strength and courage and dedication to a cause by listening to the life stories of these people; I learned how preconceptions are dangerous and are nearly always wrong. I learned how amazing and selfless people can be in difficult circumstances. I learned that these stories need to be told.