Sikhule sifotwa, sifota, sizifota Sami Qoko

by Sami Qoko

When I was born, my paternal grandmother had long passed away. Growing up I would hear stories and jokes, shared by my father and his siblings, reminiscing on how strict a mother she was. Moments like those made me realise how little I knew of my parents. Prompted by that curiosity, often I find myself flipping through my family photo albums. There I would find smiles I have never witnessed before, people I only heard of in remembrance and never experienced first-hand. I developed a yearning to be included in these memories. Every now and then I ask my parents about these people; their answers often come with laughter and followed by a “Yho lomntu…” (yho this person). Having these conversations with my parents make me feel included, connected even. These are the feelings that have inspired the Sikhule sifotwa, sifota, sizifota monotype series. Directly translating to: We grew up being photographed, we capture pictures, and we photograph ourselves too. 

At home photography is a norm, my family loves to be photographed. These photographs stand as statements of sorts. I have started to see them as fragments and glimpses of identity. With these photographs, my family members have been active in choosing how they want to be seen. Considering how far this act of compiling photo albums stretches back, my family has been interacting with forms of self-representation for a long time. The significance of this act lies in the nature and history of South Africa. With its racially oppressive systems, historically there has been control placed over our identity and self-representation as people of colour. Independent photography and the compilation of photo albums, presents an opportunity to photographically present ourselves on our own terms.

As a printmaker, I produce monotype prints inspired by these personal traces. Monotype becomes metaphoric of the individual, expressing the same unique quality I see in each personal image. A monotype print produces a one-of-one, like the irreplicable nature of an individual’s identity. The photo albums express representations of my family members, at times we find them laughing, posing or serious between the inclusion of “random” landscapes. The identities I have found within these albums reflect the one-of-one nature of the monotype printmaking process. No matter how much you try to print the same exact image, there will be a visible change. Like identity, it is not static, but should allow room for variation. Printmaking has become my language, my form of self-expression. With this medium I continue the work of self-representation.