ntsoana

I was thinking recently how what I am doing currently — photographing, writing, video graphing, editing — was never the plan; and how growing up, there never really was one. Lesotho is like that. Talented folk end up in dead-end situations because the government never saw worth in endorsing dreams of ‘the youth’. Our only good was as collateral to their predictions of ‘the future’ and how we were part of it.

I digress.

My image of author Phumlani Pikoli accompanied a 4-page spread on his Fatuous State of Severity — a novel he self-published in 2017, which was picked up by Pan-McMillan and shall be getting its Jozi launch this week. The very same image appears as the author’s profile picture at the back of the book. When my sister was growing up, she used to demand that our father buy her a copy of Drum magazine weekly. Knowing that I’m in a small way a part of what informed her leisurely time, is a vibe!

Towards the end of last year, People magazine featured an image of mine in a Johnny Cradle profile. Growing up, my mother would buy People magazine regularly. Having an image in that magazine is a fuckin’ trip, despite my own reservations of what it represents.

And of course there’s the Sunday Times story: when I was young, my father would buy the paper weekly, and either myself or the both of us would go through its crossword puzzle. He’d then post this to Sunday Times’ postal address the next morning after dropping me off at school. The paper remains a favourite of his to this day.

I can die happy now.

PS. It’s never okay to be away from home for extended periods of time, but this is a reality I’ve had to embrace; to understand and come to terms with,  just so that I can keep my sanity while making ends meet.

* Fatuous State… is available to purchase on Amazon