adminDr Tony Monda Art Zone
PHOTOGRAPHY for most seems like an easy way to make pictures; but for those in the know there are a myriad of complex technical and scholarly theories that distinguish professional art photography from amateur happy snappers.
Many local photographers and photo- journalists are blind to the basics of pictorial composition, however, an exception to this is photojournalist/artist Tatenda Gomo, an exceptional artist and graphics image designer who seeks out and uses compositional structure intuitively even in candid shots — seeing trapezoid and truncated angles in any limited space.
Technically he uses selective lighting, an advance photographic technique, also known as dodging and burning or what famed photographer Ansel Adams referred to as “edge burning”.
Born on March 1, 1981, Tatenda Gomo studied art and graphic design at the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts — ZIVA.
The mid-career visual artist, designer, videographer and photographer uses the camera as a painter would use a brush. Like an animator, Gomo sees gesture in both the human subject and in the surrounding inanimate objects within the periphery of his lens. In a recent interview the modest, perfectionist said:
“I perceive photography as a pure art form, with the ability to capture tears of joy at a wedding, the sweat and glamour of musicians and models on stage to the beckoning rugged landscape of Zimbabwe’s newly excavated precious mineral mines”
The artist, who made his local gallery debut at the EU’s Europe Day Art Exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe “Engaging with the Other”, revealed his sensitivity and aesthetic sensibilities. Here, Gomo chose to use black and white photographic expressions to capture the duality of Zimbabwean culture in a portrait of a violinist playing her instrument in a maize field. The exhibition “Engaging with the Other”, was intended to create dialogue between Diaspora, urban and rural people from where most Zimbabwean originate.
Photography automatically interfaces and magnifies issues pertaining to the socio-political, socio-economical, and socio-geographical strata of society which his penetrating lens captures. True to his profession, Gomo makes the use of his cameras and equipment to realise his imagery. Constantly researching on the latest technology and apparatus used in contemporary international photography, he is a specialist in the history of photography and computers. What distinguishes Tatenda’s work is that he exploits the considerable variations inherent in the exposure latitude of black and white film. In comparison with the small exposure latitude of colour films, black and white photography offers an expansive range of contrasts in the realisation of the subjects photographed, where the artist makes use of the direction and the intensity of the light to realise his subject.
Given that photography has its axis on the visual history of society and recognisable imagery of self, photography is visually accessible and as such eliminates the academic detachment and subjective visual theory and imagery normally associated with other genres of the visual arts. For Zimbabwe photography is a growing art form, largely due to the ready accessibility and affordability of cameras and the various informal photography schools and workshops that have been introduced in the last few years.
Photography today has become the artist’s vehicle to penetrate the social and cultural realm for art making it relevant for Zimbabwean in the 21st century. Any definition of “art” in Zimbabwe must find room for participation in all art forms, including a representation of photography at forums such as the Dakar Biennale, the Guangzhou Biennale, Venice Biennale and the Johannesburg Art Fair.
Gomo can be described as one who uses new technology with the eyes and hands of an old master, and as such captures the theatre of his subjects. Technically, his effects of solarisation, tone control and mood are extended by hue manipulation and a perfectionist editor’s touch in his finished product. The versatile artist covers different subjects of photography under a variety of working conditions. His portfolio ranges from portrait, fashion, landscape, wedding and documentary to portraiture with documentary value and artistic sensitivity, industrial photography, geological and mining photography to corporate, boardroom and state diplomatic photography.
The gifted photographer and artist is a new face in the lens for professional Zimbabwean photography – certainly a talent to be reckoned with.
Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Post-Modern Art Theory and a Doctorate in Business Administration( DBA) in Post-Colonial Art and Heritage Studies. He holds a Law and Art Diploma from Georgetown University, Washington DC, and worked with WALA (Washington Area Lawyers Association). He worked as an intern in Psychology of Art and Remedial Art Therapy at the Lafayette School of Art Therapy for the Mentally Handicapped Children in New Orleans, USA. He also studied law and photography at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC, USA. He is a practising artist, art critic, author, designer and corporate image consultant.
Online Reporter